Gold and silver prices began to fall sharply: main factors behind the decline
2 February 14:18
On Monday, gold and silver prices saw their sharpest one-day drop in 40 years after Kevin Warsh was nominated to head the Federal Reserve.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing a Reuters report.
The spot price of gold fell 3.2% to $4,708.19 per ounce. Although the market stabilized somewhat, there was a shocking drop of almost 10% at the beginning of the session.
It is worth noting that on January 30, the price of bullion fell by 9.8%, which was the worst performance since 1983.
Overall, since reaching a historic peak ($5,594.82) on January 29, gold has lost about $900 in value, effectively wiping out most of the gains made since the beginning of the year.
US gold futures for April delivery also fell 0.3% to $4,730.40.
Reasons for the decline
The main trigger for the sell-off was the nomination of Kevin Warsh as chairman of the US Federal Reserve.
Investors fear a change in monetary policy, which has triggered a massive exit from safe-haven assets.
The situation was exacerbated by tighter margin requirements, which forced many traders to close their positions under pressure, only accelerating the decline.
Silver follows gold
The situation in the silver segment was no less dramatic. The spot price of the white metal fell 3.4% to $81.65. In early trading on Monday, the decline reached a critical 15%.
This period has been a real test for silver: the asset has lost about 33% of its value compared to its historic high of $121.64, which was reached just last week.
The spot price of platinum fell 9.4% to $1,958.93 per ounce after reaching a record high of $2,918.80 on January 26, while the price of palladium fell 5.1% to $1,611.86.
