Spot gold tumbled $94 or 2.8% to $3,212 per ounce in Sunday Asia trading, while silver dropped 5.2% to $38.40 and platinum slid 3.8% to $1,148. The slump marks the most aggressive single-session unwind of precious metals positioning since November 2022 and reflects rapid de-leveraging as the Iran war risk premium evaporated.
CFTC Commitment of Traders data released Friday showed managed-money net long gold positions at 312,000 contracts, the highest level since March 2008. The crowded positioning amplified the move as algorithmic systems hit stop-losses below $3,250, an area that had served as support for the prior two weeks.
ETF Outflows Begin
The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) recorded $980 million of net outflows in the past three sessions, the heaviest run of redemptions since June 2024. The iShares Silver Trust (SLV) saw $312 million in outflows over the same period. Total assets in physically backed gold ETFs eased to $312 billion from a record $322 billion on Tuesday.
Despite the pullback, gold remains up 24% year-to-date and 9.4% over the past 30 days. Year-on-year, the metal has gained 41% — its strongest 12-month run since the post-Lehman crisis era of late 2008 to early 2009.
Mining Stocks Hit
Newmont Corp. (NEM) traded 4.1% lower in pre-market, while Barrick