June gold futures (GC=F) opened at $4,534 per troy ounce on Tuesday, down 2.4% from Monday’s opening price of $4,644. Gold fell slightly in early trading, falling to $4,527.60 as of 6:32 a.m. ET.
July silver futures (SI=F) opened at $73.17 an ounce on Tuesday, down 4.3% compared to Monday’s opening price of $76.45. The price of silver holds steady this morning, moving to $73.22 at 6:32 am ET.
This morning marks the lowest opening price for gold since March 30.
“Project Freedom” did not get off to a great start. The US plan to help guide neutral ships through the Strait of Hormuz was immediately met by an Iranian reaction, as both sides exchanged attacks.
As of this morning, the truce between both countries remains intact, but tensions continue to keep oil prices high. Brent crude oil (BZ=F) was above $114 a barrel at 6:30 am this morning. High oil prices continue to weigh on inflation prospects in the United States and around the world, making rate hikes more likely the longer this conflict in the Middle East drags on.
The president’s latest comments suggest the war will drag on for at least a couple more weeks.
More information: Who decides how much gold is worth? How gold prices are determined.
Current price of gold.
The opening price of gold futures on Tuesday was 2.4% lower than that on Monday. Below is how the opening price of gold has changed compared to the past week, month and year:
-
A week ago: -3.1%
-
A month ago: -4.8%
-
One year ago: +39.8%
The precious metal’s annual gain was 95.6% on January 29.
24/7 Gold Price Tracking: Don’t forget that you can monitor the current price of gold on Yahoo Finance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Do you want to learn more about The current best performing companies in the gold industry.? Explore a list of the best performing companies in the gold industry using Yahoo Finance Screener. You can create your own evaluators with more than 150 different evaluation criteria.
Current price of silver.
July silver futures (SI=F) opened 4.3% below Monday’s opening price. Below is how the opening price of silver has changed compared to the past week, month and year:
-
A week ago: -0.1%
-
A month ago: -0.7%
-
One year ago: +129.2%
More information: How to invest in silver: a beginner’s guide
Risks and considerations for gold investors
Gold has the same high-level risk as any investment: you could lose money. And, as with other investments, a loss in gold can materialize in different ways. Understanding the possible outcomes is the first step in managing your risk when investing in gold.
According to gold experts, potential gold investors should understand these four risks:
-
Price
-
Speculation
-
opportunity cost
-
Fraud
Today we will focus on the first two: price and speculation.
More information: How to invest in gold in 7 steps
Price risk
There is price risk for investors who buy gold when the metal approaches record prices. “Buying high to hope for a short-term rally is a difficult strategy,” said Darrell Fletcher, managing director of commodities at Bannockburn Capital Markets.
Despite the high prices, there is positive momentum at play for the precious metal. Fletcher noted that gold is recovering from decades of low prices and is an increasingly popular diversification asset for central banks and individual investors.
The right expectations, a long timeline, and proper allocation can limit your pricing risk. “Gold should not be seen as an engine of supercharged returns; it is there to primarily act as a stabilizer in a diversified portfolio,” explained Alex Tsepaev, chief strategy officer at B2PRIME Group.
If you are interested in learning more about the historical value of gold, Yahoo Finance has been tracking the historical price of gold since 2000.
Speculation risk
Thomas Winmill, portfolio manager at Midas Funds, encourages investors to consider positions in gold bars, coins and ETFs as speculative. Gold is a commodity and “commodity prices depend on macroeconomic, political, industrial and financial factors that are unpredictable and, in some cases, unknowable.”
Despite its recent performance, gold is an unpredictable asset. Keeping this in mind when making trading decisions could protect you from overexposure and unrealistic expectations.
More information: Are you thinking of buying gold? Here’s what investors need to keep in mind.
Gold price and silver price charts.
Whether you are following the price of gold and silver from last month or last year, the gold and silver price charts below show the change in value of the precious metals.
More silver coverage from the Yahoo Finance team: