Gold and silver prices came to a screeching halt on Friday as the precious metals experienced wild swings to the downside.
Silver prices on COMEX, which peaked above $120 per ounce earlier this week, fell below $100 on Friday.
Meanwhile, gold prices briefly fell below the crucial mark of $5,000 per ounce earlier on Friday, with the yellow metal now trading around $5,109.74 an ounce.
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Prices have remained volatile throughout this week, with both silver and gold hitting a series of record highs.
Gold on COMEX hit a record high above $5,600 per ounce as experts increasingly forecast a price of $6,000 later this year.
Just as quickly as it rose, the price of gold and silver corrected downward again at the end of the week.
“The reason for the correction are rumors that US President Trump will announce Kevin Warsh as the successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell today,” Thu Lan Nguyen, head of FX and commodity research at Commerzbank AG, said in a report.
The markets see Warsh as a more hawkish candidate than, for example, Kevin Hassett, who was seen to have high chances for the position at times and is considered a Trump loyalist.
Source: FXStreet
Fed Chair speculation drives downside volatility
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As a former FOMC governor, Warsh is viewed as a serious and experienced candidate.
“However, we would be cautious about reading too much into this,” Nguyen added.
The US President’s desire for significantly lower interest rates is clear and appears to be a sustained position.
Consequently, pressure on the Fed is likely to persist.
Even if Kevin Warsh were Fed Chair, he would probably face continued attacks if he failed to deliver the rate cuts the President expects.
“We therefore continue to see a high probability that the central bank will yield to pressure to at least some extent and cut interest rates more than is currently priced in by the market,” Nguyen said.
This suggests that the gold price will remain well supported.
Technical factors and dollar rebound
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She added that the extent of the correction in gold suggested that investors were waiting for an opportunity to book profits.
This is likely true for silver as well, which has seen a meteoric rise so far in 2026.
Silver is now trading roughly 20% lower after hitting a record high on Thursday, when it traded above $120 per ounce for the first time in history.
Additionally, the dollar rebounded on Friday, which put pressure on silver and gold prices.
A stronger dollar makes commodities priced in the greenback more expensive for overseas buyers, thereby limiting demand.
Confidence in the dollar was boosted, and fiscal outlooks were stabilised, following a rebound that stemmed from a series of macro developments.
Among these was the reported agreement between President Trump and Senate Democrats to avert a government shutdown.
On Friday, the gold/silver ratio, which indicates how many ounces of silver are required to purchase one ounce of gold, increased to 50.01 from 46.28 on Thursday.
“Overall, the current pullback in Silver prices appears largely driven by technical adjustments and profit-taking after an exceptional rally,” Ghiles Guezout, analyst at FXStreet, said in a report.
Fundamentals, supported by geopolitical risks, political uncertainty in the United States and persistent US Dollar weakness, continue to argue in favor of sustained interest in silver over the medium term.
