Gold Falls to $4,156/oz; WTI Crude Slips 0.2% to $97.71

The split between gold's modest pullback and silver's gain suggests the move is less about broad risk appetite than about positioning within precious metals, with the dollar's near-flat close offering little explanatory power. Equities in Europe advancing alongside softer crude points to a market reading the oil dip as supply-side noise rather than a demand signal. The open question is whether silver's relative strength persists if gold's decline extends, or whether both simply track the dollar's next directional break.