Spot gold held near $4,030 an ounce on Thursday, still above $4,000, as Brent crude eased on fresh talk of a temporary US-Iran arrangement. GoldPrice.com showed $4,030.71 at 8:32 a.m. ET, down 0.28% from Wednesday's LBMA PM fix, after a Wednesday close of $4,067.29. GoldOilPrice had gold at $4,029.80, down 0.55%, silver at $52.72, down 2.30%, WTI at $101.85 and Brent at $110.51, down 1.01%, with Brent's day range at $109.56 to $110.99. That is a step down from the $115 area in Tuesday's commodities note.
Screens disagree on the barrel. They agree the premium is leaking.
Newsquawk put January Brent in a $109.75 to $111.00 range after a Wednesday settle of $111.64, and December WTI in a $100.71 to $102.31 range after $102.78. It had spot gold lower by about 1% inside $4,016 to $4,069, and silver lower by about 2.1% inside $52.49 to $54.39. A Bloomberg wrap carried by swissinfo had a higher Brent print, down 0.5% to $114.80, and gold down 0.6% to about $4,040. The gap is the contract and the timestamp. Both readings sit under Tuesday's $115 hold. Platinum and palladium futures were lower by about 2.0% and 1.3% on the Newsquawk tally. Three-month LME copper traded between $14,349 and $14,506 a tonne.
Hormuz is still closed. The diplomacy is why crude slipped.
Newsquawk said mediators were passing messages between Washington and Tehran, and that Vice President JD Vance had reached out to Iranian hard-liner Mohsen Rezaei to restart talks. Semafor reported that President Trump is weighing a return to strikes after the midterms if diplomacy fails. The White House said the United States will not attack Iran before those elections and that the blockade stays in force. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within days if its conditions are accepted. Iran agreed in principle to proposed mechanisms and rejected nuclear concessions, saying nuclear talks can start only after the war ends, the siege lifts and Hormuz reopens. Iran's IRGC Navy said three tankers hit mines on an unauthorised southern route. UKMTO reported a vessel on fire 9 nautical miles north of Khasab, Oman. Dutch TTF gas was lower by almost 5%, inside 96.50 to 99.10 euros per megawatt hour. The EU energy commissioner said bloc gas use is 18% below 2022 levels. A hawkish Fed hold, covered in today's economy story, and September PCE at 8:30 a.m. ET are the next tests for bullion. Bitcoin near $80,100, in the market lead, is moving with the same dollar and yield tape. Follow both markets on the commodities desk.