Gold edges lower, silver rises

 Gold futures slipped 0.25% to $3,380.10 per troy ounce on Thursday, while September silver futures on COMEX rose 0.34% to $38.39, exchange data showed.

Azerbaijan exported $22.97 million worth of gold in June, up 81.4% from a year earlier. In 2024, the country produced 2,663.5 kg of gold and 3,184.9 kg of silver.

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) purchased 15.8 tonnes of gold in the second quarter of 2025. As of July 1, gold accounted for 28.8% of its investment portfolio, 3 percentage points higher than on April 1. The fund said the increase reflected both purchases and higher global prices.

Non-oil exports rose 9.9% year-on-year in the first half of 2025 to $1.8 billion.

Aytaj Zeynalova