Gold and silver extended their recent rally on Monday, with gold trading just above $5,000 per ounce, as a softer U.S. dollar and expectations of future interest rate cuts boosted demand for precious metals.

By 0650 GMT, spot gold rose 1.3% to $5,025.97 per ounce, following a 4% surge on Friday. U.S. gold futures for April delivery climbed 1.4% to $5,048.30 per ounce.

“This could be the very short-term intraday correlation between the dollar and silver as well as gold (driving the metals up),” said Kelvin Wong, senior market analyst at OANDA.

The U.S. dollar fell to its lowest level since February 4, making dollar-priced metals cheaper for overseas buyers. The Japanese yen also strengthened after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s election victory on Sunday.

KCM chief analyst Tim Waterer noted that bargain-hunting was helping push gold back above the $5,000 mark.

Investors are now awaiting key U.S. economic data later this week, including monthly employment and inflation reports, which are expected to influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate path. Markets currently anticipate at least two 25-basis-point rate cuts in 2026, with the first expected in June. Precious metals typically benefit from low interest rates, as they offer no yield.

“Any softness in the jobs data could help gold’s rebound efforts. We are not expecting a rate cut from the Fed until mid-year, unless the jobs data really starts to drop off a cliff,” Waterer said.

San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly also indicated last Friday that one or two more rate cuts may be needed to address weakness in the labor market.

Silver, Platinum, Palladium Also Rise

  • Spot silver surged 4.7% to $81.55 per ounce, following nearly 10% gains in the previous session. Silver hit an all-time high of $121.64 on January 29.
  • “Unless silver is able to clear above that key resistance at $92.24, I’m not so convinced in terms of a probability perspective of a medium uptrend,” Wong said.
  • Spot platinum edged 0.2% higher to $2,099.15 per ounce.
  • Palladium gained 1.3% to $1,728.00 per ounce.

As investors await this week’s economic data, the precious metals market remains sensitive to shifts in currency strength and expectations for U.S. interest rates.