GLD Sees Biggest Single-Day Gains Since February – But YTD Returns Still Remain In Negative Territory

At the time of writing, spot gold was trading more than 4.3% higher at $4,252 an ounce, its highest level since June 18.

• Gold futures for November 2026 deliveries rose 3.8% to $4,293.30 an ounce.
• Spot silver jumped 4.5% to $62.2 an ounce, its highest in nearly a month.
• ADP reported that private employers added 44,000 jobs in July, well below economists’ expectations of 75,000.

The SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) jumped more than 4% on Wednesday, marking its biggest single-day gain in more than five months, as gold prices surged on a weaker U.S. dollar, as well as renewed hopes that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen.

At the time of writing, spot gold was trading more than 4.3% higher at $4,252 an ounce, its highest level since June 18, while gold futures for November 2026 deliveries rose 3.8% to $4,293.30 an ounce.

Despite Wednesday’s rally, gold is down more than 24% from its January record high of $5,602.2, and around 20% since the U.S.-Israeli strikes first hit Iran on Feb. 28, 2026. On a year-to-date basis, gold is down nearly 1.7%.

Meanwhile, spot silver jumped 4.5% to $62.2 an ounce, its highest in nearly a month. Silver contracts expiring in November traded 3.4% higher at $62.75 an ounce.

Trump Says Hormuz To Re-Open Soon

The rally in gold gathered pace after President Donald Trump told Fox News on Tuesday that the U.S. and Iran were “having very good discussions,” adding that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen very soon. He said the negotiations also prompted him to call off planned military strikes on Iran over the weekend.

The comments also weighed on the U.S. dollar, with the DXY down 0.11%, tracking a third consecutive session of losses.

Weak ADP Jobs Report

Long-time gold advocate Peter Schiff pointed to the weak July ADP jobs report as a key catalyst behind the “nice breakout for precious metals.” “The move began last night, but the weak July ADP jobs report was likely a catalyst for the explosive move this morning. Got gold?” Schiff said in a post on X on Wednesday.

ADP reported that private employers added 44,000 jobs in July, down from a revised 95,000 in June and well below economists’ expectations of 75,000.

Investors are now awaiting Friday’s nonfarm payrolls data and unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with economists expecting nonfarm payrolls to increase by 83,000 in July while the unemployment rate is forecast to remain at 4.2%, according to a report by CNBC.

Independent metals trader Tai Wong told Reuters that early investors were returning to gold and silver as expectations for further interest rate hikes had eased.

“The early adopters are ​getting back into precious metals as the likelihood of rate hikes has fallen since ⁠last week. The dollar has fallen sharply, which helps. The Iran ‘pause’ helps as well,” Wong said.

Retail Remains Bullish On GLD

Meanwhile, retail sentiment surrounding GLD on Stocktwits remained ‘bullish’ over the past 24 hours, and turned ‘extremely bullish’ for iShares Silver Trust (SLV).

At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, edged 0.06% lower; the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) fell 0.4%, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) gained 0.8%.

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