Gold on Track for Weekly Rise
2025-12-19 01:34
By
Kyrie Dichosa
1 min. read
Gold traded around $4,320 per ounce on Friday, near its October record high and on track for a second weekly gain, as softer-than-expected US inflation strengthened expectations of further interest-rate cuts.
November inflation slowed to 2.7%, below forecasts of 3.1%, with core CPI at 2.6%, its slowest pace since March 2021.
This reinforced expectations that price pressures are easing and strengthened the case for potential Federal Reserve rate cuts.
However, the data was limited by the federal shutdown, which disrupted the BLS’s collection of October prices and month-over-month analysis.
Markets currently assign about a 25% chance of a rate cut in January, with near certainty by April.
Geopolitical tensions have also supported the metal, with the US halting sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipments following a tanker seizure and President Putin reaffirming territorial claims in Ukraine.
Bullion has surged roughly 65% this year, marking its strongest annual gain since 1979.