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17-04-2026
WASHINGTON/ NEW DELHI: U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure in a call on Tuesday, Modi said in a post on social media.
The call between the two leaders lasted nearly 40 minutes, Indian media, which first reported the call, said.
“Received a call from my friend President Donald Trump. We reviewed the substantial progress achieved in our bilateral cooperation in various sectors,” Modi said on social media.
“We are committed to further strengthening our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership in all areas. We also discussed the situation in West Asia and stressed the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and secure.”
The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted sectors from air travel to shipping and gas supplies, including by the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which serves as a conduit for 40% of India’s crude oil imports.
A White House official confirmed the call took place but did not comment further.
On the other side, gold prices gained 2% on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar weakened, while hopes of a resumption in U.S.-Iran talks also supported prices by easing inflation concerns.
Spot gold was up 2% at $4,831.78 per ounce by 1:34 p.m. ET (1734 GMT). U.S. gold futures settled 1.7% higher at $4,850.10.
Talks to end the Iran war could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, U.S. President Donald Trump said, after the collapse of weekend negotiations prompted Washington to impose a blockade on Iranian ports.
(Int”The direction of the gold market will depend on how the talks go in Pakistan and what kind of progress is made heading into the weekend. If we see positive news, metals will continue higher,” said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.
“Lower dollar, lower oil right now is helping gold out, being that when the war started, there was a rush to cash and a concern about being able to accumulate energy supplies,” he added.
The U.S. dollar drifted lower and oil prices fell. A weaker U.S. currency makes greenback‑priced bullion more affordable for holders of other currencies.
Data showed that U.S. producer prices increased less than expected in March as the cost of services was unchanged, but surging energy prices because of the war with Iran were fanning inflation pressures.
Despite its role as an inflation hedge, gold becomes less attractive in a higher-rate environment because it offers no yield.
Traders are now pricing in a 33% probability of a U.S. rate cut this year, compared with expectations for two cuts before the war.
“As long as the market does not begin to seriously consider a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve, there are no signs of this so far, the gold price is unlikely to fall much further,” analysts at Commerzbank said.
Among other metals, spot silver rose 5.2% to $79.48 per ounce, platinum gained 1.3% to $2,096.91, while palladium rose 0.7% to $1,585.21.
U.S. producer prices increased less than expected in March, but that did not change economists’ expectations that the Federal Reserve would probably not cut interest rates in the near term amid rising energy costs because of the war with Iran.
The report from the Labor Department on Tuesday also suggested the impact on producer inflation from import tariffs was waning. Nonetheless, economists still believed the Personal Consumption Expenditures price indexes tracked by the U.S. central bank for its 2% inflation target were firmer in March. (Int’l News Desk)
