Gold prices steadied above the key $4,000 mark on Thursday, maintaining the historic level it breached for the first time a day earlier. The precious metal found support from growing expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts and easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
As of 0439 GMT, spot gold was steady at $4,037.95 per ounce, recovering from a 0.5% dip in early trade after touching a record high of $4,059.05 on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures for December delivery edged down 0.3% to $4,056.80.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s September 16–17 meeting, released Wednesday, showed officials were increasingly concerned about risks to the U.S. labor market, reinforcing expectations for rate cuts later this year.
Markets are now pricing in 25-basis-point cuts in both October and December, with probabilities of 94% and 79%, respectively, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
The yellow metal also found support after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, which includes a ceasefire and hostage deal that could pave the way for ending the two-year war. T
he U.N. has described the conflict as genocidal in scale.
“You can’t look past the significance of the deal between Israel and Hamas, one of the reasons gold’s been moving higher is geopolitical risks,” said Kyle Rodda, an analyst at Capital.com.
“But it’s probably just a handy excuse to take profits after hitting another record. We still see things as being rather constructive because all the fundamentals for gold remain pointed upwards.”
Gold has surged 54% year-to-date, driven by strong central bank purchases, rising inflows into gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a weaker U.S. dollar, and persistent safe-haven demand amid global instability.
Broader markets have struggled this week amid political turmoil in Japan and France and an ongoing U.S. government shutdown, further fueling the flight to safety.
Non-yielding assets like gold tend to outperform in low-interest-rate environments and during periods of economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
Among other precious metals, spot silver rose 0.2% to $48.98 per ounce after reaching a record $49.57 on Wednesday. Platinum slipped 0.4% to $1,656.35, while palladium gained 1.5% to $1,471.46.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
