Markets
Gold Climbed Back Above $4,000 as the Dollar Slipped
Gold futures settled 3.4% higher at $4,073 an ounce on Wednesday, back above $4,000, as the dollar and Treasury yields fell after Democrats won Congress. Silver rose more than 4%.
Gold went into the election below $4,000 an ounce and came out above it. Comex gold futures settled at $4,073.00 on Wednesday, November 4, up 3.4% from $3,940.40 on Tuesday, and spot gold traded near $4,054 during the day. Silver rose about 4.5% to roughly $52 an ounce, palladium nearly 6% to $989 and platinum about 2.5% to $1,465, according to CNBC. The metal had slipped below $4,000 the week before.
Most of the move happened before New York opened. PAX Gold, a token backed by physical gold that trades around the clock on Binance, sat between $3,927 and $3,960 through the Asian night as the results came in, then jumped from $3,956 to above $4,009 in the 06:00 UTC hour, when the European session started and the dollar fell. It added about another $55 during the day and ended the US session near $4,064, about 3.5% above where it started.
The dollar was the main channel. The ICE US Dollar Index fell 0.39% to 101.32 early on Wednesday, the euro rose to $1.1235 and the pound to $1.3476. Thierry Wizman of Macquarie argued that a political slowdown in data-centre construction would be "adverse for the U.S. dollar". The 10-year Treasury yield fell to about 4.89% from 4.95%, which lowers the cost of holding a metal that pays no interest.
One part of the story pulled the other way. Oil fell more than 8% on hopes that a Democratic Congress will push for an end to the Iran war, and lower energy prices usually reduce demand for gold as an inflation hedge. That gold rose anyway says the day was about rates and the currency rather than inflation fear. A peace deal would also remove some of the geopolitical demand that carried the metal to a record of $5,608 in January 2026; it is still about 27% below that peak.
Gold futures were higher again early on Thursday, near $4,126. The next signals come from the Bank of England, which is expected to raise rates to 4% at noon London time, and from Friday's US jobs report, which will shape expectations for the Fed's December meeting. A hike in London and a weak payroll number in Washington would widen the gap between rates abroad and at home, the combination that has tended to weigh on the dollar and support gold.