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Gold Hits 3-Month Low as Oil Rises and Tech Stocks Slide
Gold fell to a three-month low near $4,058 per ounce on October 22 as higher energy prices, renewed geopolitical tensions and another selloff in Asian technology shares weighed on precious metals. Platinum also reached a three-month low, while palladium fell to its weakest level since June 2025.
Key Points
- Gold: Fell as low as $4,058/oz, its weakest level in three months.
- Platinum: Dropped to a three-month low of $1,577/oz.
- Palladium: Fell to its lowest spot price since June 2025.
- Silver: Held just above the previous week's three-month low of $55.40/oz.
- Oil: Brent crude jumped 2.8%, adding to inflation concerns.
- Equities: Asian technology shares weakened sharply, with South Korea's Kospi down 3.5%.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Precious metals extended their decline on Thursday, October 22, as gold fell to a new three-month low amid rising energy prices, renewed geopolitical concerns and weakness across technology-heavy Asian equity markets.
Gold for London settlement dropped as low as $4,058 per troy ounce overnight, erasing the rebound recorded during August.
Platinum also fell to a three-month low of $1,577 per ounce, while palladium touched its weakest spot-market level since June 2025.
Silver proved somewhat more resilient, bottoming roughly 25 cents above the previous week's three-month low of $55.40 per ounce.
Oil Rally Adds Fresh Inflation Pressure
Higher energy prices added another source of pressure to financial markets.
Brent crude futures rose approximately 2.8%, moving to within roughly $3 per barrel of the four-year high near $115 reached in May.
The move followed renewed tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, where Iranian authorities warned of a broader response against U.S. military interests if disputes surrounding tanker traffic continued.
Concerns surrounding the strategically important shipping route have kept energy markets sensitive to any escalation that could threaten oil supplies.
ScrapMonster Edge: Gold Fell Even as Treasury Yields Declined
One of the more unusual signals in Thursday's market was that gold weakened even as U.S. Treasury yields moved lower.
The yield on 10-year U.S. government debt fell to approximately 5.04%, its lowest level in a month. Lower bond yields would normally reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.
That support was not enough to prevent another gold selloff.
The divergence suggests other forces were dominating the session, including rising energy-driven inflation concerns, weakness in global equities and broader investor repositioning after gold's earlier rally.
For precious-metal recyclers: when bullion falls despite a traditionally supportive move in yields, it signals that short-term market momentum can overwhelm the usual macro relationships.
Asian Technology Stocks Extend Their Decline
Weakness in Asian equities added to the defensive market tone.
China's CSI 300 index fell to a new 14-month low as the technology-sector selloff continued.
South Korea's semiconductor-heavy Kospi dropped 3.5%, approaching its lowest closing level since April.
U.S. technology and artificial-intelligence-related shares were also expected to open weaker as enthusiasm surrounding recent corporate developments faded.
Ukraine War Adds to Geopolitical Uncertainty
The Russia-Ukraine conflict remained another source of market uncertainty.
Following discussions involving U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Russian authorities said they had intercepted hundreds of Ukrainian drones overnight.
Kyiv also came under another round of missile attacks, with at least one fatality reported.
These developments added to the already elevated geopolitical risk surrounding the Middle East and global energy markets.
Gold Erases August Rebound
The decline to $4,058 pushed gold back below levels reached during its August recovery.
According to BullionVault, gold was more than 13% below its late-summer three-month high and approximately 27.2% below the all-time high reached at the end of January.
The pullback highlights how quickly precious-metal momentum has changed after the strong gains seen earlier in the year.
Platinum and Palladium Also Under Pressure
The weakness extended beyond gold.
Platinum traded as low as $1,577 per ounce, marking its weakest level in three months.
Palladium fell to its lowest level since June 2025 and has now lost roughly half its value from the three-year high reached in January.
Both metals have substantial exposure to industrial demand, particularly automotive catalyst markets, making them sensitive to changes in manufacturing expectations as well as broader investor sentiment.
Silver Holds Above Recent Low
Silver also remained under pressure but avoided setting another three-month low during Thursday's session.
The metal traded approximately 25 cents above the previous week's low of $55.40 per ounce.
Even so, silver remained more than 50% below the all-time peak near $121 reached in January.
The metal's greater exposure to electronics, solar and industrial applications gives it a different demand profile from gold, particularly when investors become concerned about manufacturing and technology-sector growth.
Shanghai Gold Falls to Three-Month Low
The weakness was also visible in China.
Shanghai gold set a new three-month low in yuan terms, with the afternoon auction fixing below CNY 880 for the first time since July 29.
The decline indicates that the selloff was not limited to dollar-denominated bullion markets.
France Adds Another Source of Market Stress
Government-bond markets presented a mixed picture.
While U.S. Treasury and German government bond yields moved lower, borrowing costs in France increased sharply.
France's 10-year government bond yield climbed above 5.11%, reaching its highest level in roughly a quarter century amid concerns about the country's budget position and continuing political unrest.
France recorded a fiscal deficit equal to approximately 5.1% of gross domestic product in 2025, while government debt remains above 115% of GDP.
The combination of fiscal pressure, political uncertainty and protests has increased risk premiums demanded by investors holding French government debt.
ScrapMonster Market Read
Thursday's precious-metals selloff is notable because several traditional safe-haven signals were present at the same time.
Technology stocks were falling, geopolitical tensions remained elevated and U.S. Treasury yields declined. Yet gold, platinum and palladium still moved lower.
That suggests the market was focused less on a simple flight to safety and more on the inflationary implications of higher oil prices, changing interest-rate expectations and profit-taking after earlier precious-metal gains.
The timing is also important for the recycled precious-metals market.
ScrapMonster's October 16-22 weekly report showed gold scrap prices still higher week over week across major hallmarked and non-hallmarked purity grades, while silver scrap declined 1.61%.
The sharp bullion decline late in the reporting period therefore creates a potential rollover risk for the next weekly scrap benchmark. If lower bullion prices persist, recycled gold and platinum values could face downward pressure in the next reporting cycle.
What to Watch Next
Gold support: The $4,000 level now becomes an important psychological area after gold's slide to $4,058.
Oil: Further gains in Brent could reinforce inflation concerns and complicate expectations for global monetary policy.
Treasury yields: Gold's failure to benefit from falling U.S. yields makes the next move in real rates especially important.
Technology stocks: Continued weakness in Asian and U.S. technology shares could affect broader risk appetite and industrial precious metals.
Platinum and palladium: Both metals remain exposed to automotive and manufacturing expectations as well as investor positioning.
Scrap prices: Precious-metal recyclers should watch whether the late-week bullion selloff begins to appear more clearly in next week's North American scrap benchmarks.
Courtesy: BullionVault