Precious metals suffer historic crash as trillions wiped off market

The global metals market has recorded what is being described as the largest crash in its history, with precious metals plunging sharply in a single trading session and erasing trillions of dollars in market value, Azernews reports.

Gold prices fell by 13.6 per cent, dropping below $4,700 per ounce, wiping an estimated $6.3 trillion off the market. Silver saw an even steeper collapse, plunging by more than 35 per cent to below $74 per ounce, erasing around $2.6 trillion in value, a move that could mark the largest single-day decline in silver prices in nearly five decades.

Platinum prices dropped 27.25 per cent to below $2,100 per ounce, resulting in losses of approximately $215 billion, while palladium declined 21.5 per cent to under $1,700 per ounce, wiping out about $85 billion in market capitalisation.

Market analysts note that this is the first time such a synchronised and severe decline across all major precious metals has occurred within a single day. In total, more than $9 trillion has been erased from the precious metals market in just 36 hours, underscoring the scale of the shock.

The sell-off comes amid heightened volatility in global financial markets, with investors reassessing risk exposure as macroeconomic uncertainty, shifting interest-rate expectations, and geopolitical tensions continue to reshape capital flows.