Silver lost 3.88 percent on Wednesday 23 September and closed around 64.33 dollars per troy ounce, according to Kitco’s end of day report. Gold fell 1.63 percent to about 4,286 dollars, closing below the round level of 4,300 dollars. The trigger came not from a war zone or a central bank, but from a survey of American businesses. It showed an economy running much faster than expected. On Thursday morning the decline continued: gold trades around 4,258 dollars and silver around 63.75 dollars, both roughly another percent lower.
American businesses at their fastest pace in five years
At 15:45 Belgian time, S&P Global published its first estimate of the purchasing managers’ index for September. The composite index climbed from 56.0 in August to 58.4. That is the highest level since July 2021 and the fourth straight month of acceleration. Economists had expected exactly the opposite, a slight slowdown. Both manufacturing, at 57.0, and services, at 58.7, did far better than forecast.
For gold and silver, the pain sat mainly in one component: costs. The index for company input prices rose, according to Kitco, from 59.9 to 66.4, the highest level since October 2022. Businesses are paying more for what they buy, and that usually feeds through to shop prices later on.
Why the gold price suffers from good news
The US central bank already raised interest rates on 16 September, for the first time since 2023. The question since then has been whether that was a one off move or the start of a series. After Wednesday’s figures, the market leans more clearly towards the second.
According to the FedWatch Tool of exchange group CME, the market implied chance of another hike in October rose from about 53 percent to about 70 percent. The US ten year yield climbed above 5 percent and the dollar reached its strongest level in about two months. For metals that pay nothing and trade in dollars, that is a double headwind.
Silver once again took the hardest hit. The metal is now close to its level of 10 September, when it lost more than 5 percent after a European rate hike. It is also far below the January peak above 120 dollars.
What this means if you want to sell silver or gold
If you have silver cutlery, old coins or jewellery at home, you will notice that the price is reacting mainly to interest rate news from Washington these weeks. A single day says little about the value of your own pieces. What matters is what they actually contain.
For silver, that is the fineness. Solid silver carries a hallmark such as 925, 835 or 800, while silver plated items have only a thin layer and hardly any melt value. How we determine this during a visit is explained on our page about how to sell silver. Older Belgian coins often contain less silver than recent bullion coins. You will find the details per coin on our page about silver coins.
For gold, it is the carat and the weight. A 14 carat ring contains proportionally less pure gold than an 18 carat one, and that weighs more heavily than a price drop of one or two percent. Everything involved when you sell old gold, from weighing to payment, is set out there.
Silver lost nearly 4 percent on Wednesday and gold slipped below 4,300 dollars, because strong US data make another rate hike more likely. When selling, have the weight and fineness determined first, then ask for the price of the day.
What could move the gold price in the coming days
The calendar remains busy with US data. Thursday brings weekly jobless claims, Friday durable goods orders and consumer sentiment. Any figure that points to a strong economy or stubborn inflation could further fuel expectations of an October hike. A weaker figure could give the metals some breathing room.
The oil price also remains a factor. It fell in recent days on diplomacy around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, which eased inflation fears somewhat. On Thursday oil rebounded after a firm tone from Tehran. The current price in euros is available every working day on our gold price today page.