Gold hits fresh record above $3,800 on US shutdown jitters

Gold edged higher to a fresh record as the prospect of a looming US government shutdown clouded the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path ahead of next month’s interest-rate decision.

Bullion briefly touched an all-time high of $3,839.52 an ounce on Tuesday. Gold ralled in the previous session as a meeting between top congressional leaders and US President Donald Trump ended without a deal on short-term funding. That’s fanned fears of a shutdown, which could hinder the release of economic reports — depriving investors of crucial data needed to assess the US economy.

Newmont Corp. and Barrick Mining Corp., meanwhile, both announced a change to their leadership on Monday. The exit of Newmont’s Tom Palmer on Dec. 31 was largely expected, but the departure of Barrick’s Mark Bristow came as a surprise. The companies are the world’s two largest gold producers.

Gold has soared more than 45% this year, setting successive peaks on central-bank demand and a resumption of interest-rate cuts by the Fed. Prices are on track to close out a third consecutive quarterly gain, with holdings in bullion-backed exchange-traded funds at the highest since 2022. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG have said they expect the rally to extend.

US Treasuries also gained on Monday, partly supported by worries over a potential shutdown. Lower yields on US government bonds tend to benefit precious metals, which do not pay interest, while a weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated bullion cheaper for most buyers.

“Gold hasn’t usually internalized past 11th hour negotiations over a US government shutdown, but it also wasn’t in a berserk bull market rally during past shutdown instances,” Nicky Shiels, Geneva-based MKS PAMP SA head of metals strategy, wrote in a note. “It’s internalizing an expected subdued jobs growth in September and perhaps some US shutdown threat.”

In other precious metals, silver and platinum took a breather on Tuesday, after charging to multi-year highs in the previous session. The metals are up about 62% and 76% year-to-date, respectively, with gains underpinned by persistent market tightness as several years of supply deficits come to a head.

Lease rates — which reflect the cost of borrowing metal, generally for a short — for silver, platinum and palladium have all surged well above their normal levels of close to zero, raising concerns about dwindling stockpiles in London. Inflows into ETFs backed by the metals also added to the crunch.

Spot gold was little changed at $3,837.28 an ounce as of 8:17 a.m. in Singapore after climbing as much as 0.2% earlier. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat, after closing 0.2% lower in the previous session.

Silver was steady at $46.94 an ounce — after climbing as much as 2.4% on Monday, adding to a rally last week that pushed prices above $45 an ounce for the first time in 14 years. Platinum was flat at $1,604.27 an ounce, after reaching the highest since 2013 in the previous session. Palladium was little changed.

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