New York, Feb 6, 2026, 17:02 EST — After-hours
- Spot gold jumped 3.9% to $4,954.92 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures closed 1.8% higher.
- The dollar eased, and with U.S.-Iran talks in focus, trading steadied following earlier sharp moves.
- CME margin hikes are looming, and next week’s U.S. data lineup is getting a shake-up, keeping traders on edge.
Gold bounced on Friday, recovering losses from the previous day. A weaker dollar and ongoing geopolitical jitters drew investors back to bullion after a volatile week.
Spot gold jumped 3.9% to $4,954.92 an ounce as of 2:18 p.m. ET. April U.S. gold futures closed up 1.8% at $4,979.80. The dollar index slipped 0.2%, trimming costs for gold buyers holding other currencies.
This matters, given how rough the selling has been. Thursday saw metals tumble as the broader market slumped and the dollar climbed. Some investors, facing losses elsewhere, dumped metal holdings just to cover margin calls.
The cost of keeping leveraged gold trades open is climbing yet again. CME Group just hiked margin requirements on COMEX gold and silver futures for the third time in two weeks, increasing the up-front deposit traders need to maintain their positions. That extra cost can sap liquidity and make price swings sharper, especially in already nervous markets.
Geopolitics kept a grip. Iran’s foreign minister on Friday called nuclear talks with the United States, with Oman mediating, a “good start” and signaled they’d go on. Traders still see the headlines as an active risk premium, not a resolved story.
Positioning came up alongside inflows. “The gold market is seeing perceived bargain hunting from bullish traders,” said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals.
Physical markets painted a more complicated picture. In India, premiums dropped by more than half from last week’s surge—volatile prices spooked buyers, who mostly held back. But demand in China started to recover as the Lunar New Year approached after prices eased down from their record highs, traders and analysts noted.
On paper, the larger picture still favors gold. Analysts in a Reuters poll out this week have once again raised their 2026 price targets—the median now lands at $4,746.50 per ounce. Geopolitical tension and steady central bank buying are the drivers, according to the survey. “We are entering a period” of real institutional stress, GoldCore CEO David Russell said. Reuters
Yet heading into the weekend, that rebound felt shaky. Should risk appetite hold, the dollar strengthen, or tensions between the U.S. and Iran ease, the leverage that fueled the rally could just as quickly drag prices lower — particularly with margin calls mounting and traders still dealing with losses from volatile moves earlier in the week.
Macro remains unpredictable, and the data schedule is out of sync. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has pushed January’s employment report to next Wednesday because of the three-day government shutdown that just ended. The January CPI numbers? Those are set for release next Friday.
On Monday, and looking into the week, traders are bracing for the impact of higher CME margins that kicked in after Friday’s close. Eyes are also on fresh U.S. data: jobs numbers land Feb. 11, with CPI following on Feb. 13. The question is whether those prints will shake up rate bets and the dollar, or just keep the market spinning its wheels.
