How is gold traded?

Before discovering what the highest gold price ever was, it’s worth looking at how the precious metal is traded. Knowing the mechanics behind gold’s historical moves can help illuminate why and how its price changes.

Gold bullion is traded in dollars and cents per ounce, with activity taking place worldwide at all hours, resulting in a live price. Investors trade gold in major commodities markets such as New York, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

London is seen as the center of physical precious metals trading, including for silver. The COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange is home to most paper trading.

There are many popular ways to invest in gold. The first is through purchasing gold bullion products such as bullion bars, bullion coins and rounds. Physical gold is sold on the spot market, meaning that buyers pay a specific price per ounce for the metal and then have it delivered or stored in a secure facility. In some parts of the world, such as India, buying gold in the form of jewelry is the largest and most traditional route to investing in gold.

Another path to gold investment is paper trading, which is done through the gold futures market. Participants enter into gold futures contracts for the delivery of gold in the future at an agreed-upon price.

In such contracts, two positions can be taken: a long position under which delivery of the metal is accepted or a short position to provide delivery of the metal. Paper trading as a means to invest in gold can provide investors with the flexibility to liquidate assets that aren’t available to those who possess physical gold bullion.

One significant long-term advantage of trading in the paper market is that investors can benefit from gold’s safe-haven status without needing to store it. Furthermore, gold futures trading can offer more financial leverage in that it requires less capital than trading in the physical market. Investors can also purchase physical gold via the futures market, but the process is complicated and lengthy and comes with a large investment and additional costs.

Aside from those options, market participants can invest in gold through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Investing in a gold ETF is similar to trading a gold stock on an exchange, and there are numerous gold ETF options to choose from depending on your preference. For instance, some ETFs focus solely on physical gold bullion, while others focus on gold futures contracts. Other gold ETFs center on gold-mining stocks or follow the gold spot price.

It is important to understand that you will not own any physical gold when investing in an ETF — in general, even a gold ETF that tracks physical gold cannot be redeemed for tangible metal.

Gold has an interesting relationship with the stock market. The two often move in sync during “risk-on periods” when investors are bullish. On the flip side, they tend to become inversely correlated in times of volatility.

According to the World Gold Council, gold’s ability to decouple from the stock market during periods of stress makes it “unique amongst most hedges in the marketplace.” It is often during these times that gold outperforms the stock market. For that reason, it is often used as a portfolio diversifier to hedge against uncertainty.

There are a variety of options for investing in gold stocks, including gold-mining stocks on the TSX and ASX, gold juniors, precious metals royalty companies and gold stocks that pay dividends.

What was the highest gold price ever?

The gold price peaked at US$4,924.29, its all-time high, on January 22, 2026.

What drove it to this new ATH? Gold reached its new highest price on January 22 alongside dips in the US dollar, geopolitical tensions and the start of testimony from Jack Smith, who took over the investigation of Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election, including the events of January 6, 2021.

Smith told the US House Judiciary Committee Thursday that his investigation came to a conclusion, without reasonable doubt, that Trump ‘engaged in criminal activity.’ However, Trump then winning the 2024 election meant he could not be prosecuted due to being a sitting president.

It also comes at a time when many of the world’s political leaders and businesspeople are meeting in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, with the US’s moves under the Trump administration a major talking point at the conference.

Tensions are currently high between Europe and the US because of Trump’s goal of taking control of Greenland from Denmark, one of the US’s allies in NATO. Trump announced additional 10 percent tariffs on eight of the European countries opposing the move, but backed down on them on January 21.

The new gold peak is part of a bull run in precious metals that has also been driven in part by US economic uncertainty, a falling US dollar and strong investor interest in the safe haven metals.

Other factors supporting gold include central bank gold buying, increased gold ETF inflows and news surrounding the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions.

Notably, on September 7, gold’s record-breaking run officially took it past its inflation adjusted all-time high of US$850 per ounce set in January 1980.

Why did the gold price climb in 2025?

Increased economic and geopolitical turmoil caused by the Trump administration has been a tailwind for gold, as well as a weakening US dollar, sticky inflation in the country and increased safe-haven gold demand.

Since coming into office in late January, US President Donald Trump threatened or enacted tariffs on many countries, including blanket tariffs on longtime US allies Canada and Mexico and tariffs on the EU. Trump also implemented 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports.

Gold first broke through the US$3,000 per ounce level in mid-March, and continued gaining into Q2. The gold price set a string of new highs in the month of April amid high market volatility as markets reacted to tariff decisions from Trump, including the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs announced April 2, and the escalating trade war between the US and China.

By April 11, Trump had raised US tariffs on Chinese imports to 145 percent and China had raised its tariffs on US products to 125 percent. Trump has reiterated that the US may need to go through a period of economic pain to enter a new ‘golden age’ of economic prosperity.

Falling markets during this time and a declining US dollar also supported gold, as did increased buying from China. Elon Musk’s call to audit the gold holdings in Fort Knox brought further attention to the yellow metal.

Gold spent the remainder of Q2 and early Q3 range-bound below US$3,500, before a variety of factors supported gold to more than 10 new highs in September. We break them down in detail in our Q3 2025 gold update, but some highlights are below.

News and speculation around the September US Federal Reserve meeting supported the gold price in September, with rate cut expectations heavily fueled by the release of US consumer price index data, as well as weaker than expected US jobs numbers. The Fed ultimately announced the widely anticipated interest rate reduction of 25 basis points on September 17.

Highs in mid-September were also supported by the US dollar index falling to a year-to-date low 96.56 on September 16, continuing a downtrend that started in mid-January. Traditionally, gold trades higher when the US dollar is weak, making it a popular hedge.

On September 23, Bloomberg reported that the People’s Bank of China is looking to become a custodian of foreign gold reserves at its central bank in Beijing, meaning other nations could buy gold and store it in China. Nations such as the UK and US also serve as custodians for foreign nations’ gold reserves.

Gold price highs in October were driven by inflows into gold ETFs, central bank purchasing and continued economic turmoil.

Internationally, political turmoil also drove the gold price. In early October, the latest French prime minister resigned after less than a month in office, and Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party chose hardline conservative Sanae Takaichi as party leader. She plans to cut taxes and increase subsidies, as well as honor an investment deal with US President Donald Trump to lower tariffs.

Additionally, the People’s Bank of China reported it purchased 1.24 metric tons of gold in September, adding gold to its reserves for the 11th month in a row. Central bank gold purchases have been a major driver of the gold price in recent years, and China’s central bank has been the largest purchaser in that time frame.

In early October, the gold price began climbing significantly as the trade war between the US and China worsened. China expanded its rare earth element export restrictions on October 9 in response to US government calls for broader bans on equipment sales to Chinese chip-makers.

After markets closed the following day, US President Donald Trump responded to the rare earth changes by threatening 100 percent tariffs on goods from China as well as export controls on ‘any and all critical software.’

The gold price spiked to a then-high of US$4,379.13 on October 17, but pulled back to about US$4,000 later in the month, and spent the following weeks testing that level.

However, news that the US government shutdown ended on November 9 led gold to spike to above US$4,100 the following day.

Beginning in late November, after gold spiked it began largely maintaining its new levels through the week. By the middle of the month it had again breached US$4,300, this time following the US Federal Reserve’s decision to cut rates at the final meeting of 2025.

Gold again spiked to start the week on December 22, which brought it above US$4,400, and it continued upwards to a 2025 peak of US$4,549.74 on December 26.

Gold price history: Gold’s performance since 2019

Despite these recent runs, gold has seen its share of both peaks and troughs over the last decade. After remaining rangebound between US$1,100 and US$1,300 from 2014 to early 2019, gold pushed above US$1,500 in the second half of 2019 on a softer US dollar, rising geopolitical issues and a slowdown in economic growth.

Gold’s first breach of the significant US$2,000 price level in mid-2020 was due in large part to economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To break through that barrier and reach what was then a record high, the yellow metal added more than US$500, or 32 percent, to its value in the first eight months of 2020.

The gold price surpassed that level again in early 2022 as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine collided with rising inflation around the world, increasing the allure of safe-haven assets and pulling the yellow metal up to a price of US$2,074.60 on March 8. However, it fell throughout the rest of 2022, dropping below US$1,650 in October.

Although it didn’t quite reach the level of volatility as the previous year, the gold price experienced drastic price changes in 2023 on the back of banking instability, high interest rates and the breakout of war in the Middle East.

After central bank buying pushed the gold price up to the US$1,950.17 mark by the end of January, the Fed’s 0.25 percent rate hike on February 1 sparked a retreat as the dollar and treasury yields saw gains. The precious metal went on to fall to its lowest price level of the year at US$1,809.87 on February 23.

The banking crisis that hit the US in early March caused a domino effect through the global financial system and led to the mid-March collapse of Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank. The gold price had jumped to US$1,989.13 by March 15. The continued fallout in the global banking system throughout the second quarter of the year allowed gold to break above US$2,000 on April 3, and go on to flirt with a near-record high of US$2,049.92 on May 3.

Those gains were tempered by the Fed’s ongoing rate hikes and improvements in the banking sector, resulting in a downward trend in the gold price throughout the remainder of the second quarter and throughout Q3. By October 4, gold had fallen to a low of US$1,820.01 and analysts expected the precious metal to drop below US$1,800.

That was before the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel ignited legitimate fears of a much larger conflict erupting in the Middle East. Reacting to those fears, and to rising expectations that the Fed would begin to reverse course on interest rates, gold broke through the important psychological level of US$2,000 and closed at US$2,007.08 on October 27. As the fighting intensified, gold reached a then-new high of US$2,152.30 in intraday trading on December 3.

That robust momentum in the spot gold price continued into 2024, chasing new highs on fears of a looming US recession, the promise of Fed rate cuts on the horizon, the worsening conflict in the Middle East and the tumultuous US presidential election year. By mid-March, gold was pushing up against the US$2,200 level.

That record-setting momentum continued into the second quarter of 2024, when gold broke through US$2,400 in mid-April on strong central bank buying, sovereign debt concerns in China and investors expecting the Fed to start cutting interest rates. The precious metal went on to hit US$2,450.05 on May 20.

Throughout the summer, the hits kept on coming.

The global macro environment was highly bullish for gold leading up to the US election. Following the failed assassination attempt on Trump and a statement about coming rate cuts by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, the gold spot price hit a then new all-time high on July 16 at US$2,469.30. One week later, news that then-President Joe Biden would not seek re-election and would instead pass the baton to Vice President Kamala Harris eased some of the tension in the stock market and strengthened the US dollar. This also pushed the price of gold down to US$2,387.99 on July 22, 2024.

However, the bullish factors supporting gold remained in play, and the spot price for gold went on to breach US$2,500 on August 2 that year on a less-than-stellar US jobs report; it closed just above the US$2,440 level. A few weeks later, gold pushed past US$2,500 once again on August 16, closing above that level for the first time ever after the US Department of Commerce released data showing a fifth consecutive monthly decrease in a row for homebuilding.

The news that the Chinese government issued new gold import quotas to banks in the country following a two month pause also helped fuel the gold price rally. Central bank gold buying has been a significant tailwind for the gold price this year, and China’s central bank has been one of the strongest buyers.

Market watchers expected the Fed to cut interest rates by a quarter point at its September 2024 meeting, but news on September 12 that the regulators were still deciding between the expected cut or a larger half-point cut led the gold price on a rally that carried through into the next day, bringing the metal near US$2,600.

At the September 18 Fed meeting, the committee ultimately made the decision to cut rates by half a point, news that sent gold even higher. By September 20, it had moved above US$2,600 and was holding above US$2,620.

In October 2024, gold first breached the US$2,700 level and continued to higher on a variety of factors, including further rate cuts and economic data anticipation, the escalating conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hezbollah, and economic stimulus in China — not to mention the very close race between the US presidential candidates.

While the gold price fell following Trump’s win in early November and largely held under US$2,700 through the end of the year, it began trending upward in 2025.

We dive further into gold’s record-setting run and new all-time high in 2026 in the previous sections.

What’s next for the gold price?

What’s next for the gold price is never an easy call to make. There are many factors to consider, but some of the most prevalent long-term drivers include economic expansion, market risk, opportunity cost and momentum.

Economic expansion is one of the primary gold price contributors as it facilitates demand growth in several categories, including jewelry, technology and investment. As the World Gold Council explains, “This is particularly true in developing economies where gold is often used as a luxury item and a means to preserve wealth.”

Market risk is also a prime catalyst for gold values as investors view the precious metal as the “ultimate safe haven,” and a hedge against currency depreciation, inflation and other systemic risks.

Going forward, in addition to the Fed, inflation and geopolitical events, experts will be looking for cues from factors like supply and demand. In terms of supply, the world’s five top gold producers are China, Australia, Russia, Canada and the US. The consensus in the gold market is that major miners have not spent enough on gold exploration in recent years. As for gold mine production, global output fell from around 3,200 to 3,300 metric tons (MT) each year between 2018 and 2020 to around 3,000 to 3,100 MT each year between 2021 and 2022. However, gold production turned around in 2023 and 2024, reaching 3,250 MT and 3,300 MT respectively.

On the demand side, China and India are the biggest buyers of physical gold, and are in a perpetual fight for the title of world’s largest gold consumer. That said, it’s worth noting that the last few years have brought a big rebound in central bank gold buying, which dropped to a record low in 2020, but reached a 55 year high of 1,136 MT in 2022.

World Gold Council data shows 2024 central bank gold purchases came to 1,044.6 metric tons, marking the third year in a row above 1,000 MT. In H1 2025, the organization reported gold purchases from central banks reached 415.1 MT.

In addition to central bank moves, analysts are also watching escalating tensions in the Middle East, a weakening US dollar, declining bond yields and further interest rate cuts as factors that could push gold higher as investors look to secure their portfolios.

“When it comes to outside factors that affect the market, it’s just tailwind after tailwind after tailwind. So I don’t really see the trend changing,” Eric Coffin of Hard Rock Analyst said.

Joe Cavatoni, senior market strategist of the Americas, at the World Gold Council, believes that market risk and uncertainty surrounding tariffs and continued demand from central banks are the main drivers of gold. He’s watching what the money markets are doing as interest rates start to move.

Should you beware of gold price manipulation?

It’s important for investors to be aware that gold price manipulation is a hot topic in the industry.

In 2011, when gold hit what was then a record high, it dropped swiftly in just a few short years. This decline after three years of impressive gains led many in the gold sector to cry foul and point to manipulation.

Early in 2015, 10 banks were hit in a US probe on precious metals manipulation.

Evidence provided by Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) showed “smoking gun” proof that UBS Group (NYSE:UBS), HSBC Holdings (NYSE:HSBC), the Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS,NYSE:BNS and other firms were involved in rigging gold and silver rates in the market from 2007 to 2013. Not long after, the long-running London gold fix was replaced by the LBMA gold price in a bid to increase gold price transparency. The twice-a-day process, operated by the ICE Benchmark Administration, still involves a variety of banks collaborating to set the gold price, but the system is now electronic.

Still, manipulation has by no means been eradicated, as a 2020 fine on JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) shows. The next year, chat logs were released in a spoofing trial for two former precious metals traders from the Bank of America’s (NYSE:BAC) Merrill Lynch unit. They show a trader bragging about how easy it is to manipulate the gold price.

Gold market participants have consistently spoken out about manipulation. In mid-2020, Chris Marcus, founder of Arcadia Economics and author of the book “The Big Silver Short,” said that when gold fell back below the US$2,000 mark after hitting close to US$2,070, he saw similarities to what happened with the gold price in 2011.

Marcus has been following the gold and silver markets with a focus specifically on price manipulation for nearly a decade. His advice? “Trust your gut. I believe we’re witnessing the ultimate ’emperor’s really naked’ moment. This isn’t complex financial analysis. Sometimes I think of it as the greatest hypnotic thought experiment in history.”