Gold Drops Nearly 3% Below $3,900 as Fed Hike Bets Lift Dollar and Yields; Silver Falls to $50

Gold fell nearly 3% on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, dropping below $3,900 an ounce for a third straight daily loss, as a stronger dollar, higher Treasury yields and expectations of another Federal Reserve rate increase weighed on precious metals. Silver and palladium also fell about 3%.

Gold slides below $3,900

Spot gold was at $3,873.49 an ounce at 12:11 p.m. Eastern time, down 2.66%, or $105.79, from the previous close of $3,979.29, USA Today reported. Kitco's New York spot quote showed gold at $3,880.60, down $106.40, or 2.67%, according to Kitco.

Prices fell in stages through the morning. Spot gold traded at $3,903.98, down 2.11%, after U.S. jobless claims data at 8:30 a.m., Kitco News reported. It slid to $3,864.78, down 3.08%, after the 10 a.m. release of existing-home sales, Kitco said.

December gold futures opened at $3,994 an ounce, the first open below $4,000 since last week, Yahoo Finance reported. Gold futures were later down 2.9% at $3,885, Investopedia reported.

Fed bets and the dollar

Gold fell for a third straight session, Reuters reported in a story published by Kitco, as investors weighed hawkish signals from policymakers after Tuesday's hotter-than-expected October consumer price index. Markets saw a 91% chance of a quarter-point Fed increase in December, with the probability of a half-point move at 10%, up from zero before the inflation data, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

"Following the hotter-than-expected CPI readings, speculation has grown that the FOMC could opt for a 50-basis-point rate hike at its December meeting, despite the recent sharp decline in energy prices that may help ease inflation pressures in the months ahead," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, according to Reuters.

Higher interest rates tend to reduce the appeal of gold, which pays no interest, and a stronger dollar makes the metal more expensive for buyers using other currencies. The dollar index rose to 103.14, a fresh 19-month high, and the 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.066%, Reuters reported.

Bank of England policymaker Megan Greene said on Wednesday it was appropriate to "proactively tighten our monetary policy stance" to guard against wage growth getting stuck at higher levels, Reuters reported.

Labor data

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose to a seasonally adjusted 200,000 in the week ended Nov. 7, above the 195,000 consensus, the Labor Department said. The prior week was revised to 191,000. The four-week average was 195,250, and continuing claims were 1.697 million, Kitco reported.

A Kitco NewsWire report said the claims figures, together with October's payroll gain of 165,000 and a 4.1% unemployment rate, suggested employment conditions remain resilient while inflation "has yet to moderate sufficiently to reduce pressure on the Fed," according to Kitco.

Three straight losses

Thursday's drop extended a decline that began after gold closed at $4,140.96 on Nov. 9. Spot gold fell 2.55% on Nov. 10 to close at $4,032.62 and another 1.16% on Nov. 11 to $3,987.82, according to Myfxbook historical data. Thursday's session opened at $3,979.12 and reached a high of $4,000.39 before the selloff.

Kitco NewsWire reported that the U.S.-Iran confrontation over the Strait of Hormuz remained unresolved, with ship-tracking data showing only five commodity vessels transiting the waterway on a recent Saturday and none the following Sunday, compared with 31 the weekend before. The report said regional instability supports defensive demand for gold, while higher energy prices could reinforce inflation and Fed tightening expectations.

Silver, platinum and palladium

Spot silver was at $50.02 an ounce, down $1.53, or 2.97%, according to Kitco's New York quote. Palladium fell $30, or 2.96%, to $983, a day after reaching its highest level since Oct. 22. Platinum slipped 0.85% to $1,518, and rhodium fell 1.72% to $8,575.

Longer-term picture

Gold was down 5.21% from a week earlier, 6.78% from a month earlier and 7.58% from a year earlier, when it traded at $4,191.16, according to USA Today. The metal was about 29.8% below its 52-week high of $5,518.21. Yahoo Finance noted that gold's year-over-year gain had reached 95.6% on Jan. 29.

The October producer price index is due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, Nov. 13. The Fed's next policy meeting is Dec. 8-9.