Gold futures soared above $4,000 per Troy ounce for the first time as many investors look for a safe place to park their money as the US government shutdown continues.
The commodity jumped Tuesday morning to hit an all-time high. New York Spot Gold previously closed at $3,960.60 per Troy ounce – the standard for measuring precious metals – on Monday.
Gold sales can soar as anxious investors look for a safe investment for their money.
Even before the shutdown, assets – and other metals like silver – had made broad gains over the past year as President Donald Trump's tariff barrage raises uncertainty about the global economic outlook.
Recently, the prospect of lower interest rates has also made gold a more attractive investment than interest-bearing investments.
Why have prices risen this year?
Gold futures are up about 50 percent since the start of 2025 – trading at about $4,013 a Troy ounce at about 11:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday. That's down from about $2,670 seen in early January.
Other precious metals have also struggled to success, with silver seeing an even larger percentage jump year-on-year. Silver futures are up about 60 percent, trading at around $48 an ounce in Troy on Tuesday.
Much of the recent economic turmoil has centered on Trump's trade wars. Since the start of 2025, steep new tariffs the president has imposed on goods entering the U.S. from around the world have strained businesses and consumers alike—raising costs and helping to weaken the labor market.
As a result, hiring fell while inflation moved back – gold is considered a hedge against inflation. And more and more consumers are expressing pessimism about the road ahead.
The current US government shutdown has added to these concerns. Key economic data has been delayed – and scores of federal employees are already feeling the effects of furloughs and working without pay from a shutdown that has no immediate end.
Trump has also threatened to use the shutdown to carry out mass layoffs and possibly permanent office closures in an attempt to punish Democrats for voting for Republican language legislation.
Gold has long been seen as a stable investment, and has become so popular during times of global uncertainty that big boxes like Costco have jumped on the bandwagon.
'Assets in Safe Haven'
Giovanni Stainovo, commodity analyst at UBS Global Wealth Management, also points to continued weakness in the US dollar and new rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Last month, the Fed cut its key interest rate by a quarter point – and is projected to do so in half this year.
Investment in gold has also been driven by other factors over time. Analysts have previously pointed to strong demand for gold from central banks around the world, including amid heightened geopolitical tensions such as the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
“The gold rally began in 2022,” Stoanovo said in an email Tuesday. He noted that the “trigger point” was when the US and other Western allies moved to freeze about $300 billion of Russian foreign holdings at the start of the war in Ukraine.
“Gold is perceived by many market participants as a safe haven asset. But investors should be aware that it has a volatility of 10-15 percent,” Steinovi added, noting that smaller quantities of physical gold, such as gold coins or one-gram bars, also have large ranges between buying and selling prices.
