Gold price powers to record high; FOMC on deck

(Kitco News, Wed. Jan. 28th, 2026) – Gold and silver prices are strongly higher, with gold leading the way this time, powering to an all-time high of $5,345.00, basis April Comex futures. The precious metals are supported by safe-haven demand as the U.S. dollar wobbles on the foreign exchange market ahead of the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s FOMC meeting this afternoon. April gold was last up $181.60 at $5,303.00. March silver prices were up $6.668 at $112.60.

CME Group is raising margins on Comex silver futures after prices surged to a record high this week. Margins will rise to 11% of so-called notional from the current 9% for non-heightened risk profile, the exchange said in a statement on Tuesday. The heightened risk profile margins will be raised to 12.1% from the current 9.9%, it said. Platinum and palladium futures’ margin also will be hiked. The change takes effect from Wednesday’s close and follows a “normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage,” the CME said.

Trump says U.S. dollar weakness is good for U.S. business. The U.S. dollar index on Tuesday hit a four-year low and suffered its steepest one-day drop since last year’s tariff rollout after President Trump said on Tuesday afternoon he didn’t think the currency had weakened excessively.  “This may very well be the beginning of the next leg lower in the dollar, and many may not be prepared for it,” said Stephen Jen, a former Morgan Stanley currency analyst, and as reported by Bloomberg. “There has been a generation of currency analysts accustomed to dealing with a strong dollar and a strong U.S. economy, and unable to process the scenario of a weakening dollar and a strong U.S. economy.” The U.S. dollar’s recent decline is great for U.S. businesses, Trump told reporters in Iowa. While that’s in line with previous commentary from U.S. officials, his remarks moved currency markets late Tuesday, partly because they appeared to validate the steep decline in the greenback in recent sessions. Gold rallied to another record high overnight, at $5,345.00 an ounce, basis April Comex futures, supported in part by the slumping U.S. dollar index.

FOMC decision day; likely no change in U.S. rates. The Federal Reserve’s two-day Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that began Tuesday morning ends early this afternoon with a statement and press conference from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. The FOMC is widely expected to keep U.S. interest rates unchanged. However, the FOMC statement and Powell’s remarks at his press conference will be closely parsed by the marketplace for any clues regarding the trajectory of monetary policy in the coming months, including Fed officials’ comments on inflation.

Amazon cutting 16,000 more jobs… Amazon.com Inc. announced plans to terminate about 16,000 corporate employees, “ratcheting up efforts to streamline bureaucracy amid rising competition over artificial intelligence,” reported Bloomberg. The company will offer U.S.-based employees 90 days to search for a new role internally, as well as severance and other transition support, Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon, said Wednesday in a blog post. “We’ve been working to strengthen our organization by reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy,” Galetti said. The job cuts were announced a few months after the company said it was cutting 14,000 jobs. Combined, the total number of terminations echoes the rolling layoffs Amazon instituted in late 2022 and early 2023 that ultimately eliminated about 27,000 people, the Bloomberg report said.

The key outside markets today see crude oil prices up a bit and trading around $62.75 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index is slightly weaker and the U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield is presently 4.24%.

Note: The gold market operates through two primary pricing mechanisms. The first is the spot market, which quotes prices for on-the-spot purchase and immediate delivery. The second is the futures market, which sets prices for delivery at a future date. Due to year-end positioning market liquidity, the December gold futures contract is currently the most actively traded on the CME.

Technically, April gold futures bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $5,500.00. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $5,000.00. First resistance is seen at the record high of $5,345.00 and then at $5,400.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $5,193.60 and then at $5,100.00.

March silver futures bulls have the strong chart advantage and their next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $125.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $100.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $116.165 and then at the record high of $117.70. Next support is seen at $110.00 and then at $107.50.

Posted by:

Jack Dempsey, President

401 Gold Consultants LLC

jdemp2003@gmail.com