Gold prices today, Tuesday, August 18, 2026: Gold falters as U.S. Treasury yields rise

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Gold prices today, Tuesday, August 18, 2026: Gold falters as U.S. Treasury yields rise

Catherine Brock · Contributing writer

Tue, August 18, 2026 at 6:48 PM GMT+3 3 min read

Gold (GC=F) December futures opened at $4,473.40 per troy ounce on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, nearly flat with Monday's closing price. The price of gold is down this morning at $4,447.20 per troy ounce as of 9:10 a.m. ET.

Rising Treasury yields are pressuring the gold price as peace talks with Iran show little progress. The 10-year Treasury benchmark (^TNX) is 4.72%, nearly a one-year high, after President Trump's son-in-law and special envoy Jared Kushner indicated Iran was unwilling to compromise to U.S. demands. The British military reported Tuesday that a vessel was struck by "an unknown projectile" in the Strait of Hormuz, a sign of continued violence. President Trump then suggested on Truth Social that the Strait of Hormuz become a U.S. territory.

The U.S. and Iran had previously signed a 60-day memorandum of understanding to allow time for negotiations, but that agreement has now expired. The war's uncertain timeline is prompting safe-haven demand for U.S. Treasuries, which increases the holding cost of owning non-yielding gold.

Current price of gold

The opening price of gold futures on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, was flat with Monday's closing price. Here's a look at how the opening gold price has changed versus last week, month, and year:

• One week ago: +1.5%

• One month ago: +12.5%

• One year ago: +34.2%

For context, the one-year gain for gold was 95.6% on Jan. 29.

24/7 gold price tracking: Don't forget you can monitor the current price of gold on Yahoo Finance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Want to learn more about the current top-performing companies in the gold industry? Explore a list of the top-performing companies in the gold industry using the Yahoo Finance Screener. You can create your own screeners with over 150 different screening criteria.

Learn more: Who decides what gold is worth? How gold prices are determined.

Risks and considerations for gold investors

Gold has the same high-level risk as any investment: You could lose money. And, as with other investments, a loss on gold can materialize in different ways. Understanding the potential outcomes is the first step to managing your risk when investing in gold.

According to gold experts, would-be gold investors should understand these four risks:

1. Price

2. Speculation

3. Opportunity cost

4. Fraud

Today, we'll focus on the first two: price and speculation.

Learn more: How to invest in gold in 7 steps

Price risk

There is a price risk for investors who buy gold when the metal is nearing record high prices. "Buying high to hope for short-term higher is a tough strategy," said Darrell Fletcher, managing director, commodities at Bannockburn Capital Markets.

Despite the high prices, there are positive dynamics in play for the precious metal. Fletcher pointed out that gold is recovering from decades of low prices, and it's an increasingly popular diversification asset for central banks and individual investors.

The right expectations, a long timeline, and an appropriate allocation can limit your pricing risk. "Gold should not be seen as a driver of supercharged returns — it's there to act primarily as a stabilizer in a diversified portfolio," explained Alex Tsepaev, chief strategy officer of B2PRIME Group.

If you are interested in learning more about gold's historical value, Yahoo Finance has been tracking the historical price of gold since 2000.

Speculation risk

Thomas Winmill, portfolio manager at Midas Funds, encourages investors to view positions in gold bullion, coins, and ETFs as speculative. Gold is a commodity, and "commodity prices are dependent on macroeconomic, political, industrial, and financial factors that are unpredictable, and in some cases, unknowable."

Despite its recent performance, gold is an unpredictable asset. Keeping that in mind when making trading decisions could protect you from over-exposure and unrealistic expectations.

Learn more: Thinking of buying gold? Here's what investors should watch for.

Price of gold chart

Whether you're tracking the price of gold since last month or last year, the price of gold chart below shows the precious metal's change in value.

(GC=F )

Go deeper with AlphaSpace

4,419.10 -54.60 (-1.22%)

As of 11:58:16 AM EDT. Market Open.

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