Gold (GCZ6)

Investing.com -- Gold Futures extended their powerful weekly rally today, surging 2.2% to $4,671.19, as the market absorbed the full implications of the U.S. Treasury Department's decision to dramatically scale up its repurchases of long-dated government debt. The Treasury confirmed it would at least double the size of its liquidity-support buybacks for 10- to 30-year government bonds, a move designed to arrest a destabilizing selloff in longer-dated Treasuries. Lower borrowing costs reduce the opportunity cost for markets to hold precious metals, which carry no coupons, making them more attractive to investors.

Gold remained supported by robust investment demand and continued central bank purchases, particularly from China. Structurally, "annual gold consumption is running at record levels of almost 5,000 metric tons per annum," a dynamic that underpins the physical market regardless of short-term rate volatility. Adding to institutional conviction, technical analysts had flagged $4,500 as a critical breakout level, and today's push to session highs of $4,673.40 confirms a decisive breach of that resistance cluster.

Gold traded above $4,500 an ounce and was on course for a third consecutive weekly gain, as investors turned to safe-haven metals amid heightened volatility across currency and bond markets, while rising oil prices continued to underscore inflationary risks. Oil prices extended their advance as the U.S. prepares sweeping new economic sanctions against Iran, with the two sides locked in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, minutes of the Federal Reserve's July meeting confirmed that some policymakers argued in favor of raising interest rates this year to prevent sharper inflationary pressure later on — a signal that, paradoxically, amplified gold's inflation-hedge appeal rather than dampening it.

The advance caps a positive week for the precious metal, which is up 4.7% over the five-day period, with futures moving toward a three-month high — a rebound following gold's sharp reversal from record highs of almost $5,600 earlier this year. With the dollar under sustained pressure, fiscal credibility concerns mounting, geopolitical risk unresolved, and central banks accumulating at a record pace, today's rally reflects a market repricing gold's structural floor meaningfully higher — and the path of least resistance remains upward.