Gold steadies just below peak
Gold prices held close to record highs in Asian trading on Wednesday, as firm expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut next week buoyed demand for the precious metal.

At 02:17 ET (06:17 GMT), spot gold rose 0.5% to $3,646.14/oz, after touching an all-time peak of $3,674.09/oz on Tuesday. December gold futures were steady at $3,684.60/oz, following a surge above $3,700 in the prior session.

Year-to-date, gold has gained nearly 40%, driven by robust safe-haven flows linked to President Donald Trump’s trade policies and sustained central bank buying, particularly from China.

Fed rate cut bets cemented by weak labor data
The latest U.S. labor revision showed the economy created 911,000 fewer jobs over the past year than previously estimated, reinforcing signs of a cooling jobs market.

This spurred expectations for a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed’s September 16–17 meeting, with markets assigning a small probability to a larger half-point move. Lower interest rates tend to reduce the appeal of yield-bearing assets, boosting gold’s attractiveness.

Silver and platinum climb; copper tracks China data
Other precious metals also gained. Platinum futures rose 0.8% to $1,387.60/oz, while silver futures jumped nearly 1% to $41.725/oz, holding close to last week’s 14-year highs.

Industrial metals edged higher, with benchmark LME copper up 0.3% to $9,960.50/ton and COMEX copper up 0.3% to $4.59/lb.

However, sentiment around base metals was tempered by fresh signs of deflationary pressure in China. Data showed consumer prices fell more than expected in August, while producer prices declined for the 35th consecutive month, underscoring persistent weakness in the world’s second-largest economy.