1. Gold and silver are once again breaking out. And while the yellow metal continues to attract significant attention, perhaps more focus should be placed on the white metal. Gold hit a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in April, before paring gains as the dollar rallied. The precious metal has risen more than 30% this year, making it one of the best-performing major commodities while silver is making a run toward $40 an ounce. This is not a central bank buying an ETF to remonetize the metal. Analysts note that silver’s appeal lies in its relative value to gold. Although the gold/silver ratio has dropped sharply from its April highs above 104, it remains elevated at more than 86. Historically, the ratio has averaged between 50 and 60. The big disadvantage for silver has been its lack of institutional interest. When funds look to invest in a safe-haven asset, they traditionally turn to gold, the monetary metal of choice for central banks. The challenge with silver is that its market is only about half the size of gold’s, making it far more volatile. Silver’s investment strength has traditionally come from retail investors, who can’t afford to spend $3,500 on a one-ounce gold coin. The fact that sovereign wealth funds now see value in silver could be a game-changer for the precious metal.
2. A selloff in technology stocks came to a halt on Monday, setting a steadier tone at the start of a month that could bring plenty of tests to markets trading near record highs. Europe’s Stoxx 600 rose 0.2%. BAE Systems Plc and Rheinmetall AG led advances in defense shares after the Financial Times reported that Europe is working on detailed plans for potential post-conflict deployments in Ukraine. A regional gauge for tech stocks eked out a small gain. S&P 500 futures were little changed after Friday’s tech rout, with cash trading in U.S. stocks and Treasuries closed for the Labor Day holiday. Asian equities were mixed, with a 19% surge in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. contrasting with a slump in chipmaking shares. The dollar traded flat.
3. U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) reached an all-time high in August as plants exited planned maintenance programs and Venture Global’s Plaquemines facility continued to increase output, preliminary data from financial firm LSEG show. August exports totaled 9.33 million metric tons, beating the previous monthly record set in April of 9.25 million tons and higher than the 9.1 million tons exported in July, according to LSEG data. Plaquemines is the second-largest LNG plant in the U.S. with a capacity of 27.2 million tons per annum (MTPA) and has increased production every month since it started up in December 2024, helping the country to remain the world’s largest LNG exporter. Plaquemines sold 1.6 million tons in August, or 17% of total U.S. exports, LSEG data showed.
4. The U.S. labor market continued its dramatic summer slowdown in August. The August jobs report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that just 22,000 new jobs were added to the economy last month, far fewer than forecast and the latest sign that the labor market has cooled in recent months. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3% last month. Economists had expected the report to show 75,000 jobs were created in August, with the unemployment rate forecast to rise to 4.3%, according to data.
5. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is delaying a requirement for automakers to begin hitting minimum sales levels for electric vehicles next year, an official familiar with the matter said Friday. Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau set the target, requiring that in 2026 20% of passenger vehicles sold should be zero-emission vehicles. Removing the requirement comes as automakers deal with the impact of U.S. tariffs. Carney is set to announce later Friday measures for workers and businesses in those sectors most impacted by the U.S. tariffs and trade disruptions.
6. In the week ending August 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 237,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 229,000. The 4-week moving average was 231,000, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 228,500. The advanced seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.3 percent for the week ending August 23, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.
7. Crude oil prices are continuing their slide, on course to end the week with a loss that reversed two weeks of gains. The downturn, which began on Wednesday and extended into Friday, has been exacerbated by reports that OPEC+ is actively considering another production boost to reclaim market share. At the time of writing, West Texas Intermediate is down 2.16% at $62.07 per barrel, while Brent crude is down 2.05% at $65.62 per barrel.
8. EUR/USD maintains its strong recovery well in place and navigates the area of multi-week highs well past 1.1700 the figure on the back of the intense sell-off in the dollar, which was exacerbated after U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls came in short of expectations at 22K jobs in August.
9. The Japanese Yen struggles to capitalize on its modest intraday gains against a broadly weaker U.S. Dollar as traders opt to move to the sidelines ahead of the release of the Non-Farm Payroll report. The crucial jobs data will play a key role in influencing market expectations about the Federal Reserve’s rate-cut path, which will drive the USD and provide some meaningful impetus to the USD/JPY pair.
Gold prices, already at record levels, are likely headed higher as rate cut expectations grow and Fed independence comes into question, according to JPMorgan analysts. On Wednesday, gold futures touched a record high north of $3,620 per troy ounce while immediate delivery bullion rose to as much as $3,546, also a new high. JPMorgan analysts forecast gold prices will rise further this year as investors expect the Federal Reserve to cut rates starting in September. Gold becomes more attractive to investors as falling rates reduce its competition with yield-bearing assets. From there, gold should reach $4,000 by the second quarter of next year and surge to $4,250 by the end of 2026, and an estimate of almost $5,000 if just 1% of the privately-owned U.S. Treasury market were to flow into gold. “We estimate that if 1% of the privately owned U.S. Treasury market were to flow into gold, the gold price would rise to nearly $5,000 an ounce, assuming everything else constant,” the analysts said. “As a result, gold remains our highest-conviction long recommendation in the commodities space.” Bullion has been one of the strongest performing major commodities this year, rallying by more than a third and hitting a record earlier this week. Silver prices also broke to new 14-year highs, surging past $41 per ounce on Wednesday.
Mortgage rates moved slightly lower again this week following the Labor Day long weekend, reaching a fresh 2025 low. The average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.5% this week through Wednesday, according to Freddie Mac data, down from 6.56% a week earlier. The average 15-year rate was 5.6%, down from 5.69% last week. Mortgage rates have remained around 10-month lows in recent weeks, though there’s little evidence that lower rates have boosted homebuying during a seasonally slow part of the year.
The S&P 500 Index on Friday morning is up +0.36%, the Dow Jones Industrials Index rose +0.19%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index rose +0.48%. Following a revision that showed a job market slowdown in July. The increase of just 22,000 nonfarm payrolls fell well below expectations, with the unemployment rate rising to 4.3%. These recent signs of a weakening labor market will likely influence the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this month. The ADP National Employment report released on Thursday showed that U.S. private nonfarm payrolls rose by 54K in August, weaker than expectations of 73K. Also, the number of Americans filing for initial jobless claims in the past week rose by +8K to a 10-week high of 237K, compared with the 230K expected. At the same time, Q2 non-farm productivity was revised upward to +3.3% q/q, stronger than expectations of +2.8% q/q, while unit labor costs were revised lower to +1.0% q/q, weaker than expectations of +1.2% q/q. In addition, the U.S. ISM services index rose to 52.0 in August, stronger than expectations of 50.9. “The Federal Reserve’s free pass on the labor market has ended. You can expect the Fed to tilt its balance of risks to cut rates in September,” said Jamie Cox at Harris Financial Group.
Volatility should be expected to remain high as investors will be closely watching for hints on the upcoming monetary policy direction. Many investors have redoubled their efforts to ensure that their portfolios are sufficiently diversified in the hope that they will be able to withstand corrections in multiple market sectors. Many of these investors have included physical precious metals as part of their diversification plans, given their long history as a hedge against both inflation and during times of economic turmoil. Remember, the key to profitability through the ownership of physical precious metals is to own the physical product and hold it for the long term. Always remember that you should never overextend your ability to maintain ownership of your precious metals over the long run.
Trading Department – Precious Metals International Ltd.
Friday to Friday Close (New York Closing Prices)
| Aug. 29, 2025 | Sept. 5, 2025 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $3,443.82 | $3,596.16 | 152.34 | 4.42% |
| Silver | $39.78 | $41.01 | 1.23 | 3.09% |
| Platinum | $1,372.15 | $1,385.65 | 13.50 | 0.98% |
| Palladium | $1,108.50 | $1,119.06 | 10.56 | 0.95% |
| Dow | 45545.78 | 45411.56 | -134.22 | -0.29% |
Previous Year Comparison
| Sept. 6, 2024 | Sept. 5, 2025 | Net Change | ||
| Gold | $2,495.53 | $3,596.16 | 1100.63 | 44.10% |
| Silver | $27.91 | $41.01 | 13.10 | 46.94% |
| Platinum | $920.65 | $1,385.65 | 465.00 | 50.51% |
| Palladium | $918.00 | $1,119.06 | 201.06 | 21.90% |
| Dow | 40346.20 | 45411.56 | 5065.36 | 12.55% |
Here are your Short-Term Support and Resistance Levels for the upcoming week.
| Gold | Silver | |
| Support | 3417/3381/3314 | 39.25/38.51/37.33 |
| Resistance | 3520/3587/3625 | 41.18/42.36/43.12 |
| Platinum | Palladiumn | |
| Support | 1356/1339/1311 | 1108/1082/1050 |
| Resistance | 1381/1402/1430 | 1140/1166/1198 |