Precious Metal Market Outlook & Bullion Trading Economic Trends

Exclusive Precious Metals Market Outlook and Recommendations

Index updated September 14, 2026

Blanchard's Bi-weekly Index

The Blanchard Bi-weekly Index is a roll-up of industry news and economic trends affecting the precious metals market and trading world.

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Market Movers

Precious Metals

The war raging in the Middle East continues to dominate global markets as stocks fell and the 10-year Treasury yield climbed above 5% to start the week. Crude oil soared to a four-month high, above $100 barrel after military strikes on Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure weaken the global energy supply. The Saudi pipeline outage threatens up to 4% of the world’s energy supplies. The jump in Treasury yields threatens to push borrowing costs higher across the U.S. economy.

Gold fell as the U.S. dollar climbed on expectations the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates to fight inflation when it meets this week. Odds for a quarter point rate hike jumped to 90%, according to CME FedWatch.

New worries over AI technology emerged as several tech company leaders warned the models create civilization risk to humanity. While some tech leaders want to slow AI development to allow for safety guardrails, President Trump dismissed calls to slow the technology. Congress is unlikely to act on the issue ahead of the mid-term elections. Stocks are broadly weaker, as the technology sector leads the way down. Hewlett Packard was down 11%, Dell Technologies down 7.2% and Intel down 6.6%.

Key Takeaway:

The U.S. war against Iran continues to escalate throughout the Middle East and is taking its toll on inflation. Stocks are vulnerable as concerns over AI ripple through the nation. Many Americans say they don’t want AI data centers near their homes and worries about potential human job loss from the technology remain high.

Economic Update

August consumer prices rose 3.4%. Rising prices for used cars, airfares, hotel, restaurant spending and communication all boosted inflation last month. Despite the higher prices, affluent Americans continue to spend on travel and discretionary items, while lower income consumers are hit hardest by jump in energy costs.
• The national average price of gasoline soared 17.2 cents per gallon last week, averaging $4.25 a gallon on Monday. The national average for regular gasoline stands $1.14/g higher than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data. The national average price of diesel increased 31.6 cents compared to a week ago and stands at $6.183 per gallon.

Key Takeaway:

Six months into the U.S. war against Iran, rising energy prices are driving up inflation for all Americans. Diesel fuel jumped above $6 per gallon for the first time in history and is up 63% in the past year. Regular gasoline prices stand near their highest levels since 2022. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point this week to battle rising inflation, which would be the first rate increase in three years. Higher Fed rates are typically negative for gold as the precious metals pays no interest. Wall Street experts expect gold volatility to be short-lived as the long-term trend points higher.