Overview

• Spot gold edged up 0.1% to $3,977.87 an ounce early Friday as December futures rose 0.5% to $3,992.40, putting the metal on track for a roughly 2.3% weekly rise.
• Prices pulled back from Wednesday’s all-time high of $4,059.05 as some investors took profits after the milestone.
• Federal Reserve minutes from Sept. 16–17 signaled officials see labor-market risks that could justify cutting rates, reinforcing a lower-rate outlook that typically supports bullion.
• CME FedWatch shows markets pricing 25 bp cuts in October and December with probabilities near 95% and about 82%, respectively.
• Analysts also cited shifting geopolitical tone—including reports of an interim Israel–Hamas agreement—as a factor for reduced risk premiums, while structural supports such as central-bank buying, ETF demand, and a softer dollar have lifted gold about 52% this year.