Gold, silver fall as dollar strengthens amid broad market sell-off

Gold and silver prices fell sharply in a broader market sell-off on Thursday, as an advance in the dollar to a near two-week high and signs of easing U.S.-China trade tensions added pressure on precious metals.

Spot gold XAU= was down 1.7% at $4,876.12 per ounce, as of 0402 GMT, retreating from a near one-week high hit earlier in the session.

U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for April delivery were down 1.1% at $4,896.30 per ounce.

"The dollar received a new lease of life with the Warsh nomination, and the currency has been able to keep making forward progress ... traders are more circumspect now on gold in light of recent extreme volatility," KCM's chief trade analyst Tim Waterer said.

The dollar .DXY rose to a near two-week high on Thursday, making greenback-priced gold more expensive for other currency holders. USD/

"Sentiment (has) turned soggy across most asset classes, including precious metals, cryptocurrencies and regional equities, with losses feeding into one another and creating a self-reinforcing feedback loop amid thin market liquidity," said Christopher Wong, a strategist at OCBC.

Asia stocks faltered tracking their U.S. peers as concerns about the exploding costs of AI investment hounded the tech sector. MKTS/GLOB

Spot silver XAG= plummeted 12.4% to $77.09 an ounce. Last week, the precious metal touched a record high of $121.64.

"The industrial demand has vanished at the higher levels. Most of the industrial buyers have stopped buying silver and even solar panel producers in China are looking for alternatives," Shah added.

On the geopolitical front, Iran and the U.S. have agreed to hold talks in Oman on Friday, officials on both sides said. China is considering buying more U.S.-farmed soybeans, U.S. President Donald Trump said after what he called "very positive" talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Wednesday.

"If you remove geopolitical tensions and the de-dollarisation trend for the time being ... the metals have little room to run," said Kunal Shah, head of research at Nirmal Bang Commodities in Mumbai.

Spot platinum XPT= slumped 7.7% to $2,056.64 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of $2,918.80 on January 26, while palladium XPD= shed nearly 5% to $1,689.25.

-Ishaan Arora/Reuters