Gold Up 3% and Silver Up 7%: Metals Rally to End Q1

🌆 Evening News Nuggets | Today’s top stories for gold and silver investors  
March 31^st, 2026 | Brandon Sauerwein, Editor 

Gold and Silver Close Q1 With a Bang — But the Quarter Was Anything But Calm 

Gold and silver finished the first quarter with their best session in weeks. Gold rallied 3.49% to close at $4,671, while silver jumped 7.50% to $75.19. The strong finish capped one of the most volatile quarters in recent memory as geopolitical shocks, policy moves, and sudden market rotations produced sharp intraday moves for both metals.

What Drove Today’s Rally? 

Several factors pushed investors into precious metals. The U.S. administration’s use of Section 122 to impose a universal 10% tariff heightened systemic risk concerns and sparked talk from Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that tariffs could rise further after a new Supreme Court ruling. That risk-off tone drove demand for gold as a hedge. At the same time, a rotation into long-term Treasuries lowered 10‑year yields to their lowest level in four months, supporting safe-haven buying. Rising tensions in the Middle East added another layer of demand for both metals.

Interestingly, stocks also performed strongly on the day. The Dow jumped more than 1,100 points and the S&P 500 climbed nearly 3% after reports that Iran’s president may be open to ending hostilities under certain conditions. When equities and precious metals rise together, markets are often signaling a reduction in the uncertainty that had previously driven risk premia.

How Did Q1 Actually Unfold? 

The quarter moved violently. Both metals surged in January: gold climbed from roughly $4,330 at the start of the year to an intraday high above $5,400 in late January, while silver leapt from about $72.66 to an intraday peak above $116 — gains of the sort that typically reflect intense speculative flows and risk premium repricing.

Volatility then intensified. On January 30, the nomination of a hawkish Fed chair candidate prompted a swift unwind of rate-cut expectations and triggered a sharp selloff: silver fell around 27% in a single session and gold lost nearly 10%, marking one of the largest single-day drops for precious metals in decades. The subsequent recovery was bumpy. Gold recovered to the low $5,000s in early March before renewed hawkish messaging from the Fed, disruptions from the U.S.-Iran conflict, and volatile oil prices pushed gold back below $4,500 and took silver down to a Q1 low near $67.80.

Stocks Surge to End Q1 

Equities rallied on the last day of the quarter after reports that Iran’s president might be open to ending hostilities under certain conditions. The Dow gained roughly 1,125 points (+2.49%), the S&P 500 rose about 2.91% to close near 6,528.52, and the Nasdaq climbed 3.83% — the strongest one-day performance for those indexes in months. Despite the late-quarter bounce, March was a difficult month overall: the S&P 500 posted its worst month since 2022, and the Nasdaq finished the quarter down more than 7%.

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Sources:
Investing.com — XAG/USD Historical Data
Investing.com — XAU/USD Historical Data
LiteFinance — Gold Price Forecast & Analysis
Investing News Network — Gold Price Forecast
CNBC — Stock Market Today, March 31, 2026

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