Gold (GC=F) August futures opened at $4,354.70 per troy ounce on Tuesday, down 0.2% from Monday’s closing price. The price of gold edged higher this morning, shifting to $4,356 per troy ounce as of 6:55 a.m. ET.
Gold prices are holding steady to start the week, albeit at a lower price range than last week. We saw opening gold price figures mostly hold within the $4,500 range throughout last week. So far on Monday and Tuesday, opening gold prices have held in the $4,350 range.
It’s certainly welcome news that both Israel and Iran have agreed to hold off on further attacks at the moment, which has helped to bring oil prices back down somewhat, but two inflation reports are due later this week, and a report from the National Federation of Independent Business indicates that many small businesses plan to hike prices if they haven’t already:
The NFIB survey showed the share of small businesses planning to increase prices over the next three months jumped seven points to 34%, the highest reading since July 2022. About 36% of owners reported raising prices, the highest since March 2023, and up six points from April.
Rising prices will continue to put pressure on the Fed to raise rates in order to stem inflation. Higher rates put downward pressure on gold prices since the precious metal doesn’t pay a coupon.
Learn more: Treasury Market Is Telling Kevin Warsh Rates Need to Be Higher
Current price of gold
The opening price of gold futures on Tuesday was 0.2% lower than Monday’s opening price. Here’s a look at how the opening gold price has changed versus last week, month, and year:
One week ago: -3%
One month ago: -7.6%
One year ago: +31.3%
The precious metal’s one-year gain was 95.6% on Jan. 29.
24/7 gold price tracking: Don’t forget you can monitor the current price of gold on Yahoo Finance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Want to learn more about the current top-performing companies in the gold industry? Explore a list of the top-performing companies in the gold industry using the Yahoo Finance Screener. You can create your own screeners with over 150 different screening criteria.
Learn more: Who decides what gold is worth? How gold prices are determined.
Risks and considerations for gold investors
Gold has the same high-level risk as any investment: You could lose money. And, as with other investments, a loss on gold can materialize in different ways. Understanding the potential outcomes is the first step to managing your risk when investing in gold.
According to gold experts, would-be gold investors should understand these four risks:
Price
Speculation
Opportunity cost
Fraud
Today, we’ll focus on the first two: price and speculation.
Learn more: How to invest in gold in 7 steps
Price risk
There is a price risk for investors who buy gold when the metal is nearing record high prices. “Buying high to hope for short-term higher is a tough strategy,” said Darrell Fletcher, managing director, commodities at Bannockburn Capital Markets.
Despite the high prices, there are positive dynamics in play for the precious metal. Fletcher pointed out that gold is recovering from decades of low prices, and it’s an increasingly popular diversification asset for central banks and individual investors.
The right expectations, a long timeline, and an appropriate allocation can limit your pricing risk. “Gold should not be seen as a driver of supercharged returns — it’s there to act primarily as a stabilizer in a diversified portfolio,” explained Alex Tsepaev, chief strategy officer of B2PRIME Group.
If you are interested in learning more about gold’s historical value, Yahoo Finance has been tracking the historical price of gold since 2000.
Speculation risk
Thomas Winmill, portfolio manager at Midas Funds, encourages investors to view positions in gold bullion, coins, and ETFs as speculative. Gold is a commodity, and “commodity prices are dependent on macroeconomic, political, industrial, and financial factors that are unpredictable, and in some cases, unknowable.”
Despite its recent performance, gold is an unpredictable asset. Keeping that in mind when making trading decisions could protect you from over-exposure and unrealistic expectations.
Learn more: Thinking of buying gold? Here’s what investors should watch for.
Price of gold chart
Whether you’re tracking the price of gold since last month or last year, the price of gold chart below shows the precious metal’s change in value.
