Volatile gold prices have Providence, RI, jeweler rattled
Gary Parseghian, 74, a master jeweler with more than five decades of experience, reacts to sharp fluctuations in the price of gold on Oct. 21, 2025.
- Gold surged toward the record $5,000-per-ounce mark Friday, capping its strongest weekly performance since March 2020, while silver blasted through the $100-per-ounce threshold.
- Inflation fears continued to cool with chicken breast prices falling 21% and the price of eggs plunging 26% in January.
Commodities took center stage the trading week ending Jan. 23, muscling aside mega-cap tech as sharp rallies in precious metals and U.S. natural gas reverberated across global markets.
Gold surged toward the record $5,000-per-ounce mark during Friday’s session, capping its strongest weekly performance since March 2020, while silver blasted through the $100-per-ounce threshold to a new all-time high. Compared with levels a year ago, gold and silver are now up roughly 81% and 230%, respectively.
Wall Street analysts increasingly described the rally as structural rather than speculative, driven by growing private-sector demand for hard assets seen as protection against geopolitical risk and fears over Fed independence.
Meanwhile, an arctic blast sweeping across the U.S. triggered one of the most extreme price surges ever recorded in the Henry Hub natural gas market. Prices spiked more than 60% in just a few days, jumping from around $3 per million British thermal units to above $5, as expectations of surging heating demand collided with fears of supply disruptions.
U.S. equities experienced a volatile week. Stocks initially sold off on concerns that President Donald Trump could impose new trade tariffs on Europe starting Feb. 1 unless the U.S. obtained ownership of Greenland. Markets later rebounded sharply after Trump softened his stance, reopening the door to dialogue and negotiations with NATO.
Economic data delivered encouraging signals. The University of Michigan’s revised consumer sentiment index for January rose to 56.4 on Friday, above the preliminary 54.0 estimate and marking the highest reading in five months.
Even more important, inflation fears continued to cool. One-year inflation expectations fell to 4.0%, the lowest since early 2025.
This cooling trend is consistent with recent developments in grocery prices. Sugar prices declined 16.6% year over year, wheat fell 10.9% and cheese dropped 7.5%. Retail egg prices recorded the sharpest move, plunging 26% in January after peaking at a staggering 108% year-over-year increase in March 2025. Chicken breast prices fell 21%, while chicken wing prices collapsed 48% from a year earlier.
Next week, attention shifts to the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Wednesday, where interest rates are widely expected to remain on hold at 3.50%–3.75%. The earnings calendar is equally packed: mega-cap tech reports arrive midweek, with Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla on Wednesday, followed by Apple and Amazon on Thursday.
Investors will also hear from major defense contractors, credit-card giants Mastercard, Visa and American Express, and energy heavyweights Exxon Mobil and Chevron.
Benzinga is a financial news and data company headquartered in Detroit.
