In evening trading, the trends of gold and silver suddenly reversed. As of the latest update, spot gold remains in positive territory but has retreated significantly from its earlier highs, while spot silver has plunged sharply, down over 4% at the time of writing. This decline may be linked to profit-taking, as despite ongoing uncertainties in the Middle East, both gold and silver have recorded substantial gains since last year and experienced another rally following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, prompting some investors to cash in their profits.
In the U.S. stock market, the three major indices opened lower, though their losses narrowed somewhat during the session.
Among Chinese concept stocks, the Nasdaq Golden Dragon Index fell more than 2%. Zai Lab dropped over 8%, Pony.ai declined 6%, and Kingsoft Cloud Holdings slid more than 5%.
Following the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, former U.S. President Donald Trump commented on March 2, expressing "great disappointment" that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had initially prevented the U.S. from using a military base on the Chagos Islands for the operation. Reports indicate that the U.K. had previously refused the U.S. request on grounds of international law. However, Starmer issued a statement on the evening of March 1, agreeing to allow the U.S. to use the base for "specific and limited" defensive purposes.
In a media interview, Trump criticized Starmer's change of stance as taking "too long" and stated that such a situation had "never happened" between the two nations, emphasizing that the U.S. should have been granted access to the base from the outset.
Additionally, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held a press conference regarding the "Epic Fury" operation against Iran. Austin stated that the U.S. mission in Iran aims to destroy the country's missiles and naval capabilities, as well as prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. He noted that while U.S. ground troops have not yet been deployed inside Iran, no options are off the table. Austin also mentioned that President Trump has the authority to determine the timeline for actions concerning Iran.
On March 2, the Israel Defense Forces announced that the current military operations against Iran are expected to last more than a week. The IDF stated that their objective is to deliver a heavy blow to Iran but emphasized that achieving this goal would require more than a few days. Recent airstrikes on Iran have targeted facilities belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, ballistic missile launch sites, and air defense installations. The IDF further indicated that while nuclear facilities have not yet been targeted, they are included in the list of objectives for both Israel and the U.S.