<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gold prices climbed sharply in European trading on Friday, the first session of 2026, as a softer U.S. dollar and expectations of further interest rate cuts reignited demand for bullion following a year of historic gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spot gold rose 1.8% to $4,387.09 an ounce by 05:18 ET (10:18 GMT), while U.S. gold futures gained 1.4% to $4,399.90 an ounce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prices rebounded after easing from record highs in the final week of 2025, with renewed buying emerging as markets reopened following the year-end holiday period. A weaker dollar extended losses from late last year, making gold cheaper for holders of other currencies and providing fresh near-term support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fed easing drove 2025\u2019s historic rally<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Gold surged more than 60% in 2025 \u2014 its strongest annual performance in decades \u2014 propelled largely by a pivot toward looser U.S. monetary policy. The Federal Reserve delivered multiple rate cuts during the year, while markets also positioned for additional easing in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lower borrowing costs reduced the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as gold, encouraging investors to increase exposure to bullion. Geopolitical tensions, including ongoing conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, further reinforced safe-haven demand, while lingering concerns over global growth and political stability added to gold\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Central banks also continued to accumulate gold at a robust pace, particularly in emerging markets, as they sought to diversify reserves away from the U.S. dollar \u2014 another key pillar of support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although prices pulled back modestly from record levels toward the end of 2025, analysts said the core drivers of the rally remain intact as 2026 begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Silver and platinum advance after stellar year<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Other precious metals moved higher in tandem. Silver jumped 4.9% to $74.47 an ounce, extending momentum after a powerful 2025 rally supported by both safe-haven demand and strong industrial usage tied to renewable energy, electronics, and data-center manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Platinum climbed 5.3% to $2,139.50 an ounce. Last year, silver surged nearly 150%, while platinum gained around 110%, reflecting tight supply dynamics and renewed investment interest across the precious-metals complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n U.S. copper futures also edged higher, rising 0.8% to $5.73 per pound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gold prices climbed sharply in European trading on Friday, the first session of 2026, as a softer U.S. dollar and expectations of further interest rate cuts reignited demand for bullion following a year of historic gains. Spot gold rose 1.8% to $4,387.09 an ounce by 05:18 ET (10:18 GMT), while U.S. gold futures gained 1.4% …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":81892,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,6827,49,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-commodities-news","category-daily-economic-reports","category-economic-reports","category-market-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122220"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122221,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122220\/revisions\/122221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noortrends.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}