Gold Soars After Trump Says Gulf War Will End Soon

(RTTNews) - Gold prices have surged on Wednesday, with U.S. President Donald Trump sayingthat the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran could end in possibly two or three weeks, either with a U.S.-Iran deal or even without one.

Front Month Comex Gold for June month delivery has soared by $133.00 (or 2.84%) to $4,811.60 per troy ounce.

Front Month Comex Silver for June month delivery has climbed sharply by $0.792 (or 1.05%) to $75.990 per troy ounce.

After a presidential-decree signing ceremony at the White House, Trump stated that U.S. forces will exit Iran in two to three weeks.

Trump insisted that this could happen after "a deal with Iran" or even "without it" but after ascertaining that Iran would not be able to come up with a nuclear weapon.

Commenting on the success made by U.S. forces in Iran, Trump claimed that Iran has been set back by 15-20 years with "no navy, military, or air force."

In an interview with Fox News, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that "an end to the war" is in sight and observed that talks were going on between both the nations. Iran, however, has not officially confirmed Rubio's claims.

After the U.S.-Israeli forces killed Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his son Mojtaba Khamenei assumed power. Since then, however, Mojtaba has not been seen in public, raising suspicions on his health condition.

Reportedly, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has taken charge to decide and deliver crucial decisions. In the process, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has been sidelined and is losing influence.

Amid this, Trump claimed a day before yesterday that talks were happening with "reasonable" leaders in Iran without naming who the leaders were, giving rise to a lot of speculation.

Trump also asserted that Iran's "new regime's president" asked for a ceasefire and added that the U.S. will consider the request when the Strait of Hormuz is "open, free, and clear."

Gold prices gained momentum after Trump signaled that the war could be over soon as oil prices declined, thereby reducing inflationary concerns, and the U.S. dollar slid correspondingly.

The U.S. dollar index was last seen trading at 99.34, down by 0.39 points (or 0.39%) today.

Meanwhile, the war continues with attacks unabated. U.S. Central Command posted a video showing the forces dropping "precision munitions" on underground military targets deep inside Iran.

Bahrain's Ministry of Defense confirmed intercepting 186 ballistic missiles and 419 UAVs launched by Iran.

On the economic front, data released by the Mortgage Bankers Association of America today revealed that the MBA Purchase Index decreased to 159.40 on March 27 from 163.60 in the previous week.

Private sector job numbers released by Automatic Data Processing revealed that private businesses in the U.S. added a net 62,000 jobs in March, extending the upwardly revised 66,000 in February and above market expectations of a 40,000 increase.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported a jump in retail sales by 0.60% month-over-month in February, above forecasts of a 0.50% gain. Year-over-year, sales surged 3.70%.