The gold price saw incredible gains in 2025, rising from US$2,600 per ounce to a record high of over US$4,300.
Gold has moved up in nearly every month of the year, and is on track for its biggest annual gain in 46 years.
Various factors have lent support, including ongoing geopolitical instability in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, US President Donald Trump’s volatile trade policies and the resulting uncertainty in global financial markets. A reversal in the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy is another major factor that has influenced the gold price this year.
Read on for more on what moved the gold price in each of the year’s four quarters.
Gold price in Q4
The gold price began Q4 at US$3,865.10, but quickly shot to an all-time high of US$4,379.13 on October 17. The surge was fueled by a number of circumstances supportive of safe-haven demand and store of value.
First up was the deepening trade war between the US and China.
In response to US lawmakers demanding broader bans on equipment sales to Chinese chipmakers, President Xi Jinping’s government announced further rare earth element export restrictions. The action spurred Trump to respond by threatening 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods and export controls on critical software.
Other forces behind gold’s impressive rally in the fourth quarter included the US government shutdown and expectations that the Fed would begin reducing interest rates. At the same time, central banks continued to be net buyers of gold amid increased gold exchange-traded funds (ETF) inflows.