On Tuesday, October 7, gold futures surpassed $4,000 an ounce for the first time, as investors sought safe-haven assets amid the effective shutdown of the U.S. government and mounting economic uncertainty.
As of 9:10 a.m. Eastern Time, New York gold futures were trading at $4,003 per ounce. The spot price of gold in New York climbed to $3,960.60 per troy ounce—the standard measure for precious metals.
Gold sales typically surge during periods of instability, as investors seek to safeguard their assets. Over the past year, gold and other metals, including silver, have posted significant gains, driven in part by the trade tariffs introduced by Donald Trump that have unsettled the global economy.
Peter Grant, vice president and senior metals strategist at Zaner Metals, noted that the market is being supported by “steady capital flows into safe-haven assets, partly driven by the government shutdown and the lack of any signs of a near-term resolution.”

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Yield-free gold traditionally performs best in times of uncertainty and low interest rates. Since the beginning of the year, its price has risen by 52%. The metal’s rally is fueled by a combination of factors—expectations of rate cuts, political and economic instability, active central bank buying, inflows into gold-backed funds, and a weakening dollar.
On Tuesday, the U.S. government shutdown entered its seventh day, delaying the release of key economic indicators and forcing investors to rely on secondary data sources to gauge the timing and scale of future Federal Reserve actions.
Meanwhile, political crises in France and Japan are weighing on currency and bond markets for a second consecutive day.
Investors are now pricing in a 25-basis-point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve at this month’s meeting, followed by another in December.