Gold trimmed earlier gains on Monday afternoon but held near $4,640 an ounce, its highest level since May 14, as technical buying sustained a rally driven by a weaker US dollar and the Treasury Department’s recent buyback announcement. The metal climbed more than 5% last week after the buyback plan pushed the dollar to multi‑month lows.
Market participants are now turning their attention to the July PCE price index, due Wednesday, and to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s remarks at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday for further signals on the interest-rate outlook. According to CME FedWatch, traders are assigning more than a 40% probability to a rate hike in September.
On the geopolitical front, the Trump administration announced an expansion of secondary sanctions aimed at entities and countries that continue doing business with Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cautioned that at least one major financial institution could be sanctioned this week and indicated that China would not be exempt.
