Gold Price Falls by Most in Over a Decade as Rally Cools
Gold prices fell by the most in over a decade on Tuesday as investors booked profits following an extended rally that saw the metal rise for nine straight weeks while hitting successive records.
Spot gold hit as low as $4,090.97 per ounce, a near $300 fall from the all-time high of $4,380.89 set just a day ago. US gold futures saw a 5.4% decline in New York, trading at around $4,100 per ounce.
The near 6% decline was gold’s biggest intraday drop since 2013, when the metal was still trading at sub $2,000 an ounce. Since then, its value has more than doubled as geopolitical risks intensified and central banks began accumulating bullion at an unprecedented pace.
As gold rallied, major banks and analysts continue to raise their outlook on the metal, predicting that elevated geopolitical and economic risks will keep demand and prices elevated. Some, including HSBC, have set a price target of $5,000 per ounce for next year.
Profit taking
Still, gold investors may have to stay patient given how high the metal has flown without taking much of a breather.
“Gold dips were being bought as recently as yesterday, but the sharp jump in volatility at the highs over the past week is flashing caution and may encourage at least short-term profit-taking,” Tai Wong, an independent metals trader, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Gold’s pullback coincides with a cool-off in safe-haven demand, as US-China trade tensions appear to have eased with the two sides slated to work out a deal ahead of the Nov. 1 tariff deadline.
Despite Tuesday’s sharp decline, gold remains one of the best-performing commodities of 2025, rising by two-quarters year to date.
Correction due
“In the last couple of trading sessions traders have increasingly been looking over their shoulders, as concerns about a correction and consolidation have arisen,” said Ole Hansen, commodities strategist at Saxo Bank, in a Bloomberg note.
“It’s during corrections that a market’s true strength is revealed, and this time should be no different, with an underlying bid likely keeping any pullback limited,” he added.
With the ongoing US government shutdown, commodity traders have also been left without one of their most valuable tools — a weekly report from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that indicates how hedge funds and other money managers are positioned in US gold and silver futures.
As a result, volatility in precious metals has surged in recent days, with traders seeking to hedge against potential price drops in other parts of their portfolios, or profit from the fall. More than 2 million options contracts linked to the world’s largest exchange-traded fund were traded on both Thursday and Friday of last week, surpassing a previous record, according to Bloomberg.
“The absence of positioning data comes at a delicate time, with a potential build-up in speculative long exposure in both metals making both more vulnerable to correction,” Hansen said.
Gold miners slump
With gold prices tumbling, mining equities also took a sizeable hit. The VanEck Gold Miners ETF — the largest fund comprising gold miners — plunged by double digits to a one-month low.
Individually, shares of Newmont (NYSE: NEM) and Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE: AEM), the largest two miners by market capitalization, both declined by about 9% in New York. Streaming companies like Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE: WPM) also saw similar drops.
