Gold is the world's oldest and most recognized store of value, traded as a commodity futures contract on the CME COMEX exchange. Gold has served as money, jewelry, and an inflation hedge for over 5,000 years. Central banks collectively hold over 36,000 tonnes of gold reserves. The gold market trades approximately $150 billion daily across futures, ETFs, and physical markets.
Gold prices are driven by real interest rates (gold tends to rise when real rates fall), US dollar strength (inverse correlation), central bank buying activity (China, India, Turkey have been major buyers), geopolitical tensions and safe-haven demand, inflation expectations, ETF inflows/outflows, and physical demand from jewelry markets (India, China). Federal Reserve policy is the single most important factor.
Gold is the ultimate safe-haven trade — it rallies during crises, recessions, and geopolitical shocks. The metal has a strong inverse correlation with the US dollar index (DXY). Watch TIPS yields (inflation-adjusted Treasury yields) as the best real-time predictor. Gold tends to consolidate for years then break out violently in one direction.
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Common questions about Gold (GC=F)