Gold Price

The gold price fluctuates continuously during market hours. See the live gold price above for the current value per ounce.

Gold prices are primarily driven by US Federal Reserve monetary policy, real interest rates, and US dollar strength. When real rates fall or the dollar weakens, gold tends to rise because the opportunity cost of holding a non-yielding asset decreases. Central bank purchases, especially from China, India, Turkey, and Poland, have also become a major demand driver since 2022.

Central banks hold gold as a reserve asset to diversify away from US dollar and euro holdings. After sanctions froze Russian foreign reserves in 2022, many central banks accelerated gold purchases to reduce geopolitical risk. China's PBOC has been one of the largest buyers, adding hundreds of tonnes in recent years.

XAU/USD is the international spot benchmark for gold priced in US dollars per troy ounce. It reflects the price for immediate delivery in the global over-the-counter (OTC) market. The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) AM and PM fixes are widely used reference prices derived from this market.

Gold has historically preserved purchasing power over long periods, outperforming most fiat currencies during inflationary decades. However, gold can underperform in the short term when central banks raise interest rates aggressively to combat inflation, as higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding gold.

The most common methods include physical bullion (bars and coins), gold ETFs such as SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) or iShares Gold Trust (IAU), gold mining stocks, futures contracts on COMEX, and allocated gold accounts at bullion dealers. Physical gold has no counterparty risk, while ETFs offer convenience and liquidity.

The gold-to-silver ratio measures how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold. Historically, this ratio has fluctuated between 15:1 and 100:1. A high ratio may signal that silver is undervalued relative to gold, while a low ratio suggests the opposite.

Gold is quoted per troy ounce internationally. One troy ounce equals 31.1035 grams. To get the price per gram, divide the per-ounce price by 31.1035. For the price per kilogram, multiply the per-gram price by 1,000.

Our gold price data is streamed once per minute from the XAU/USD spot rate during market hours. The chart updates automatically via a real-time connection.