Gold surpasses US$4,000/oz for first time

Gold price surpassed US$4,000 an ounce for the first time on Wednesday as investors piled into a historic rally in the safe-haven asset to hedge against global economic and geopolitical uncertainties, while also betting on US interest rate cuts.

Spot gold was up 1.3% at US$4,034.73 per ounce by 1110 GMT. US gold futures for December delivery gained 1.3% to US$4,056.80.

Traditionally, gold is seen as a store of value during times of instability. Spot gold is up about 54% year-to-date, after gaining 27% in 2024. It is one of the best-performing assets of 2025, outpacing advances in global equity markets and bitcoin and losses for the US dollar and crude oil.

The rally has been driven by a cocktail of factors, including expectations of interest rate cuts, ongoing political and economic uncertainty, solid central bank buying, inflows into gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and a weak dollar.

"Background factors are much the same as before, in terms of geopolitical uncertainty, with the added spice of the government shutdown," StoneX analyst Rhona O'Connell said.

"The latter is not impeding strong equities but nonetheless there will be a degree of risk mitigation via bullion."

The ongoing US government shutdown, into its eighth day on Wednesday, has delayed the release of key economic data, forcing investors to rely on non-government sources to assess the timing and scope of Fed rate cuts.