Gold on pace for best month since February despite investor concerns over rate hikes

Ines Ferré · Senior Business Reporter

Mon, August 31, 2026 at 7:53 PM GMT+3 2 min read

What happened: Gold futures (GC=F) fell on Monday, but were still on track to close out their best month since February.

What's behind the move: The precious metal has risen nearly 10% in August, despite a recent pullback after Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh signaled that interest rate increases could be necessary to bring inflation under control.

US strikes on Iranian rocket launchers in the Strait of Hormuz region also reignited inflation fears as oil prices jumped.

Gold futures for December delivery hovered near $4,481 per troy ounce on Monday, extending declines of more than 3% on Friday after Warsh's commentary at Jackson Hole sent the precious metal tumbling as investors reassessed expectations for interest rates.

(GC=F )

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4,480.90 -49.00 (-1.08%)

As of 1:30:17 PM EDT. Market Open.

What else you need to know: Goldman Sachs strategists forecast the precious metal will rise to $4,900 per troy ounce by the end of 2026 as central banks continue diversifying their reserves and markets scale back interest rate hike expectations.

Hawkish commentary by Warsh, however, prompted Polymarket bettors to assign a 56% probability that the Fed will hike rates by 25 basis points at its September meeting.

Rising interest rates typically weigh on demand by making non-yielding assets like gold less attractive.

"We judge that the Fed's firm restatement of its commitment to price stability and its belief that monetary policy remains the most effective tool for achieving that goal, means that the debasement trade narratives will likely be tuned out of now," wrote TD Securities Macro Research head of commodity strategy Bart Melek in a client note on Friday.

Meanwhile, veteran strategist Ed Yardeni noted that central banks will use pullbacks as buying opportunities.

"We are still targeting $5,000 by the end of … this year, reflecting our expectation that any price dips will be short lived," wrote Yardeni over the weekend.

Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance.

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Gold on pace for best month since February despite investor concerns over rate hikes

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