Gold Rebounds Toward $3,935 and Silver Reclaims $50 as Oil Slides on the Eve of the Midterms
After Friday's rout, bullion caught a bid on Monday as crude fell and the dollar softened, though analysts warn a bounce after a 3 percent drop does not mean the selling is over.
Monday, November 2, 2026/2 min read
Gold spent Monday clawing back part of Friday's losses. Spot gold was quoted at $3,935 an ounce at 9:05 am in New York, up $28 from the $3,907 reading Fortune's tracker used for 30 October, while silver was back above $50 after dipping below it for the first time in a year on Friday. On Comex, December gold had opened the week up $20.80 at $3,919.70 in early Asian trade and silver up 1.28 percent at $49.905, CNBC-TV18 reported.
That is a modest bounce after a brutal week. December gold lost nearly 3 percent last week to settle at $3,898.90, and Comex silver fell about 9 percent to $49.27, according to the same report. We covered Friday's drop through $4,000 to the lowest since October 2025 in our Friday piece, and silver's slide below $50 in a companion report.
Why did gold and silver bounce on Monday?
The main reason was oil. Crude fell sharply on Monday on signs that Washington and Tehran are edging toward talks, and lower energy prices take some of the heat out of the inflation and rate-hike story that has been punishing bullion since the Federal Reserve's hawkish hold last Wednesday. Indian bullion coverage from Goodreturns tied the rebound directly to the decline in crude, and noted the US dollar index had slipped to around 101.7.
The second reason was positioning. Pranav Mer of JM Financial Services told CNBC-TV18 that some investors may have sold bullion last week to meet margin calls after the technology stock sell-off, which is the classic pattern of gold being dumped not because it is unloved but because it is liquid. Once that forced selling ends, prices tend to drift back.
Where did silver trade?
Silver was at $50.26 at 6:30 am Eastern, up 64 cents from the same time on Sunday, Fortune's silver page showed, and Fortune's gold page listed it at about $51 three hours later. The metal is still down 17.6 percent over the month on Fortune's numbers, from $60.99 a month ago, which is why the gold-silver ratio blew out to 79 on Friday. Goodreturns had spot silver near $49.75 during the Indian morning and said it was struggling to hold $50; by 8:27 pm Indian time MCX silver was up 2.9 percent on the day, outpacing gold's 1.4 percent gain on the exchange.
What are traders watching this week?
Tuesday's US midterm elections first, then Friday's October jobs report. Goodreturns put the market-implied odds of a Fed hike in December at about 75 percent after last week's 10-2 vote with two dissents in favour of raising rates, and strong third-quarter GDP and elevated PCE inflation have kept those bets alive. Gold pays no interest, so every tick higher in hike expectations is a headwind.
Nobody on Monday was calling a bottom. Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities told CNBC-TV18 that election uncertainty and US-Iran tensions could bring intermittent demand for metals, but the broader direction would be set by macro conditions, and the report's own caution was that a modest bounce after a sharp correction does not by itself show that the selling pressure has eased. Monday's test was whether the rebound holds into the New York close; the bigger test comes when the election result and Friday's payrolls tell the Fed what it wants to hear, or not.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
Editorial desk
Outspoken Digest Markets DeskReports for The Outspoken Digest across Business, Crypto.
Newsletter
The Digest, in your inbox
One edition, sent when it is ready. No noise, and your address is never passed on.
Read Next
More Business →
Gold Slips to $3,921 and Silver Falls Back Below $50 on Election Day as Rate-Hike Odds Hold Near 75%
Nov 3, 2026/2 min read
Brent Climbs Back Above $105 After a Reported US Strike on Qeshm Island Interrupts Monday's 7.6% Plunge
Nov 3, 2026/3 min read
Kospi Falls 3.7% as the US Chip Rout Spreads to Asia, Tokyo Shuts for Culture Day and the RBA Hikes to 4.85%
Nov 3, 2026/2 min read
Apple Posts a $114.5 Billion September Quarter, Up 12%, but Guides Margins Down to 45% to 46%
Nov 2, 2026/3 min read