Gold rises, silver jumps after disappointing economic data, SCOTUS tariff ruling

Gold prices rose on Friday, after disappointing readings on U.S. inflation and growth reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates. 

Investors also assessed the ramifications for precious metals from the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Meanwhile, heightened U.S.-Iran tensions also boosted safe-haven demand.

At 15:26 ET (20:26 GMT), spot gold gained 1.8% to $5,085.43 per ounce and U.S. Gold Futures rose 2.2% to $5,108.15/oz. 

Silver prices rose 7% to $84.0095 per ounce, while platinum gained 5.3% to $2,178.55/oz.

Key data disappoints

Uncertainty around the future path of monetary policy has been one of the driving factors behind moves in gold and precious metals. Disappointing economic data on Friday once again thrust future interest rate moves into the spotlight.

The core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index - widely seen as the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge - came in hotter than expected on both a monthly and annual basis in the last month of 2025.

Core PCE rose 0.4% on the month in December and 3.0% year-on-year, with the latter reading the highest since November 2023 and well above the central bank’s 2% target.

At the same time, the preliminary estimate for fourth-quarter U.S. GDP growth came in at 1.4%, significantly below the consensus figure of a rise of 2.8%.

As per the CME FedWatch tool, market participants trimmed their expectations of a 25 basis point rate cut by the Fed in June after the release of the data.

Interest rates and gold have historically shown a largely inverse relationship, with gold prices falling when rates rise and vice-versa. Bullion tends to struggle when borrowing costs rise because higher yields increase the opportunity cost of holding the metal.

SCOTUS strikes down Trump’s tariffs

In a long-awaited opinion, the Supreme Court of the United States on Friday ruled 6 to 3 against Trump’s swathe of sweeping reciprocal tariffs imposed in April last year.

"IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs," the Supreme Court said, referring to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act which Trump used to impose the tariffs. 

"The Supreme Court’s decision removes one layer of policy pressure, but it doesn’t eliminate uncertainty; it simply changes its form. Markets were pricing tariff risk directly. Now they’ll price the policy response and broader trade dynamics," Joseph Cavatoni, senior market strategist for North America at the World Gold Council, told Investing.com.

"For gold, that distinction matters. Gold tends to respond less to the specific policy instrument and more to uncertainty around growth, inflation, and financial conditions. As long as those questions remain open, gold stays relevant as a portfolio diversifier," he said.

"Other precious metals may see more pronounced volatility in this environment. Many of them have meaningful industrial demand components alongside their investment characteristics, which means they can move more quickly as investors reassess global growth expectations and broader risk sentiment," Cavatoni added.