America and Iran agree to a ceasefire for two weeks, causing gold to rise more than 3% and oil to plummet by 19%, falling below the 100 yuan mark.

US President Trump has announced that he has agreed to a two-week ceasefire, boosting the price of gold. Trump tweeted on social media that he has agreed to halt bombing Iran, just under two hours after he had set a deadline for destroying Iran's "entire civilization." Iran has also agreed to temporarily reopen the Strait of Hormuz for two weeks, causing oil prices to plummet and the US dollar to weaken, supporting the price of gold. Oil prices have dropped below $100 per barrel. The spot gold trading price surged over 3%, breaking the important $4850 per ounce level, following a 1.2% increase from the previous trading day. At the time of writing, spot gold has risen by 2.76% to $4835.84 per ounce. Silver has risen by 2.6% to $74.90 per ounce. Platinum and palladium prices have also increased. The US dollar spot index has fallen by 0.3%. WTI crude oil prices plummeted by 19% at one point, marking the largest single-day drop in 2020, nearing $91 per barrel; Brent crude oil closed at around $109 per barrel on Tuesday. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X website that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is possible through coordination with Iran's armed forces and "taking into account technical limitations." Trump had previously stated that the ceasefire agreement would depend on whether Iran reopens the waterway and will help "finalize and complete" relevant agreements. Israel has reportedly agreed to halt bombing Iran during negotiations. Furthermore, the first round of talks between the US and Iran will take place in Islamabad on Friday. Prior to the deadline set by Trump at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday night (8 a.m. Beijing Time on Wednesday), military actions escalated continuously, with the US President's threats against Iran becoming increasingly aggressive, including a post claiming that "a civilization will perish tonight." Earlier that day, US officials said that US forces targeted multiple objectives on Iran's Haruk Island, similar to targets attacked last month, but not targeting energy infrastructure. Subsequently, both sides agreed to a two-week ceasefire. However, "the physical system is not going to come back very quickly," said Robert Rennie, head of commodities research at The Pacific bank, "Restarting shut-in wells, redeploying personnel and vessels, and rebuilding refinery stocks will all take months." The Middle East conflict has been ongoing for six weeks, leading to a surge in energy prices. Since the outbreak of the war, the Strait of Hormuz has been nearly closed, disrupting about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipping, causing turmoil in the energy market. Since the conflict erupted at the end of February, WTI crude oil prices have risen by about 40%. According to US government estimates, the transportation disruptions are expected to result in a halt in oil production of over 9 million barrels per day from major oil-producing countries in the Middle East in April. In this context, inflation risks are heightened, and major central banks are more likely to delay rate cuts or even raise rates. Bond traders expect the Federal Reserve to maintain borrowing costs unchanged for the rest of the year, which has a negative impact on non-yielding gold. Since the conflict erupted at the end of February, gold prices have dropped by nearly 10%, and some investors need to liquidate positions to make up for losses in other areas, which has also weakened the attractiveness of gold as a traditional safe-haven asset.