Gold fell 3% on Thursday, November 12, in its third straight daily loss, touching its lowest level since October 2025 as rising oil prices on fading hopes of Middle East peace stoked fears of higher inflation and higher interest rates, Reuters reported. Spot gold was down 3% at $3,867.96 an ounce by the close of trade in Johannesburg, Reuters said.
Source: Reuters via MiningMX
US gold futures for December delivery lost 3.2% to $3,872.00 an ounce, Reuters reported. In Comex trading, dpa-AFX put front-month December gold at $3,885.30 an ounce, down $115.20, or 2.88%, on the day.
Source: dpa-AFX via TradingView
Trump dismisses an Iran deal
The newswire cited US President Donald Trump as saying on social media that the US did not need a deal with Iran, dashing hopes of an end to the conflict that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February and has spread across the region, Reuters reported. FXStreet quoted Trump's Truth Social post directly: “We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed.”
Source: FXStreet
Silver fell with gold. Comex December silver plunged $1.917, or 3.69%, to $50.085 an ounce, dpa-AFX reported, while Kitco's morning report put spot silver at $50.186 an ounce, down $1.449, or 2.80%, in early US trading. Kitco put spot gold at $3,890.46 an ounce early in the US session, down $97.11, or 2.38%, and FXStreet later put gold around $3,853, down more than 3%, at a fresh year-to-date low — the figures differ because they were recorded at different points in a fast-moving session.
Source: Kitco News
Rate-hike bets lift the dollar
Selling pressure built as traders bet on more aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes. Fed Governor Christopher Waller put a 50-basis-point hike in December on traders' radar before Tuesday's US inflation report, FXStreet reported, and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said on Thursday that policy needs to become restrictive, the outlet added.
Source: FXStreet
Kitco reported that market positioning reflects expectations of another Federal Reserve rate increase at the December 8-9 meeting, and that US initial unemployment claims rose to 200,000 in the week ended November 7, against a revised 191,000 the previous week and expectations of about 195,000. The US dollar index traded near 103.10, its highest level since April 2025, FXStreet said — a stronger dollar makes gold more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.
Source: Kitco News
Thursday's fall extends a selloff that on Wednesday took gold below $4,000 an ounce — it closed that day at $3,987.70, its first close below $4,000 since November 3 — erasing the gains the metal made after the November 3 US midterm elections, according to market reporting by InvestingLive and Kitco.
Source: InvestingLive
Gold is a core household saving in Punjab and across India, bought as jewellery and held against inflation, so a one-day fall of this size is watched closely by families and jewellers alike. Traders said the metal failed to gain even on war headlines — Israel's security cabinet has ordered its military to step up preparations for a possible attack on Iran — which analysts cited by FXStreet read as a bearish sign for prices in the near term.
Source: FXStreet analysis
Two dates now drive the gold market: Tuesday's US inflation report, which lands before the Federal Reserve's December 8-9 meeting, and any move in oil prices if US-Iran tensions rise again. Reuters reported that surging oil on fading peace hopes was a key driver of Thursday's inflation fears; a further oil rise would keep rate-hike expectations — and pressure on gold — alive.