Spot gold prices moved higher on Friday and were set to record a fourth consecutive month of gains in November. The rise reflects growing confidence that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the coming month.
Gold futures also climbed after trading resumed from a CME Group outage that temporarily halted activity across several futures markets. By 09:24 ET (14:24 GMT), gold futures were up 0.8% at $4,234.00 per ounce.
Although bullion prices dipped briefly in the previous session, they quickly rebounded as traders continued to bet on a December rate cut.
Current market pricing shows an 85% chance that the Fed will lower rates by a quarter percentage point at the December 9–10 meeting, according to CME FedWatch. This probability has risen sharply from last week.
Expectations for a rate cut next month have been supported by dovish remarks from some Fed officials and by weaker recent U.S. economic data. However, other policymakers remain cautious. They argue that rate changes should wait until more data is available, as the record-long federal government shutdown has interrupted key releases.
Speculation around the potential appointment of White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett as the next Fed Chair has added to the discussion on monetary policy. Analysts say Hassett could lean toward faster and more aggressive easing, a shift that would typically be positive for gold.
Gold, which does not offer yield, tends to benefit when interest rates fall. Spot gold rose 1.0% to $4,197.40 per ounce by 09:26 ET. Prices are up more than 2% over the past week and remain on track for a fourth month of gains.
