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Updated 4 min read
Gold (GC=F) futures opened at $3,347.50 per ounce Thursday, up 0.6% from Wednesday's close of $3,327.10. The gold futures price has remained below $3,400 this week, after nearing record highs on June 13 and 16.
Rising optimism on stocks may be contributing to a sluggish week for gold. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) gained 3.4% since Monday, when President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. On Wednesday, Trump told reporters he was evaluating three or four candidates to replace Fed chair Jerome Powell. Powell's conservative approach to interest rates has frustrated Trump. Replacing Powell would likely lead to a faster rate reduction than investors currently expect. That could spur stock prices higher and reduce demand for gold.
The opening price of gold futures on Thursday is up 0.6% from Wednesday's close of $3,327.10 per ounce. Thursday's opening price marks a decline of 1.1% over the past week, compared to the opening price of $3,385.30 on June 18. In the past month, the gold futures price has risen 0.6% compared to the opening price of $3,328 on May 23. In the past year, gold is up 45.1% from the opening price of $2,307.90 on June 26, 2024.
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.
Investing in gold is a four-step process:
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Set your goal.
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Set an allocation.
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Choose a form.
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Consider your investment timeline.
After deciding why you want to invest in gold and selecting the size and form of your gold investment, consider your investment timeline as a final suitability check.
Gold can be volatile. It has demonstrated extended periods of decline in the past. Extended periods of decline are not acceptable if your timeline is short. The risk is too great that gold's price will be down when you need to liquidate.
An extended holding period provides greater potential for reaching your investment goals. As an example, hedging against stock market declines or inflation is a long-term effort. These outcomes will continue to be risks as long as you own stocks or cash deposits. Holding gold as insurance against an economic calamity requires you to keep the asset until you need it.
Learn more: How to invest in gold in 4 steps
A small gold position can act as a stabilizer for your stock portfolio and your purchasing power. If you choose physical gold stored at home, it can also stand in as currency in the worst of economic crises. Just know that gold has underperformed stocks in the past, so choose your target allocation accordingly.
Learn more: What to know before buying gold, silver, or platinum from Costco
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 steady upward climb in value.
Historically, gold has shown extended up cycles and down cycles. The precious metal was in a growth phase from 2009 to 2011. It then trended down, failing to set a new high for nine years.
In those lackluster years for gold, your position will negatively impact your overall investment returns. If that feels problematic, a lower allocation percentage is more appropriate. On the other hand, you may be willing to accept gold's underperforming years so you can benefit more in the good years. In this case, you can target a higher percentage.
The precious metal has been in the news lately, and many analysts are bullish on gold. In May, Goldman Sachs Research predicted gold would reach $3,700 a troy ounce by year-end 2025. That would equate to a 40% increase for the year, based on gold’s January 2 opening price of $2,633. Rising demand from central banks, along with uncertainty related to changing U.S. tariff policy, are the factors driving the increase.
If you are interested in learning more about gold’s historical value, Yahoo Finance has been tracking the historical price of gold since 2000.
