Gold prices rose to a fresh record high on Monday (September 22), boosted by growing investor expectations for a path of interest rate cuts, ahead of comments from several US Federal Reserve officials and key inflation data due later this week.
At the end of the trading session on September 22, spot gold contracts increased by 1.1% to 3,723.81 USD /oz, after reaching a new record high of 3,726.19 USD/oz earlier in the session. Gold futures contracts added 1.4% to 3,758.40 USD/oz.
Several Fed officials are scheduled to speak this week, with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speaking on September 23, as investors closely watch their comments for hints on the future direction of monetary policy.
Markets are also focused on the release of core US personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price data on September 26 for further hints on the pace of further rate cuts.
On September 17, the Fed cut interest rates for the first time since December 2024, cutting rates by 0.25% and signaling a readiness to ease further.
According to the CME FedWatch tool, investors are currently predicting that the Fed will have two more 0.25% interest rate cuts this year, in October and December 2025, with probabilities of 93% and 81%, respectively.
Analysts say there has been a shift in the factors supporting gold. Until now, it has been demand from central banks and in Asia, now Western investors appear to be buying more gold, evident in holdings in gold ETFs, on expectations of lower US interest rates.
Gold prices have climbed more than 40% year-to-date, driven largely by broader geopolitical and economic uncertainty, central bank buying and loose monetary policy.
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