"Could rise to 5,000 dollars"…Gold price renews 'record high' amid employment shock

Amid a deterioration in the U.S. labor market in August, international gold prices hit a new record high.

On the 5th (local time) at the New York Mercantile Exchange, the December gold futures settlement price closed at 3653.3 dollars per ounce, up 1.3% from the previous session. Spot gold prices also hit a record high.

According to Reuters, spot gold was trading at 3596.6 dollars per ounce at around 2:47 p.m. Eastern Time, up 1.4 from the previous session. Spot gold rose intraday to as high as 3599.9 dollars per ounce, coming close to surpassing the 3600-dollar level for the first time on a spot basis.

Earlier, the U.S. Department of Labor said that nonfarm payrolls in the U.S. increased by 22,000 in August from the previous month. This was far below the expert forecast compiled by Dow Jones (75,000). The unexpected weakness in employment raised expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates sooner and more aggressively, which pushed down bond yields and lowered the dollar's value, boosting gold prices.

With uncertainty over U.S. tariff policy persisting, investors' questions about the Fed's independence—after U.S. President Donald Trump attempted to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook—are also seen as a factor increasing demand for gold, a safe-haven asset.

Wall Street experts expect the gold rally to continue amid Fed rate cuts and economic uncertainty. Goldman Sachs said in a recent report that if the Fed's independence is impaired and investors partially shift their allocations from U.S. Treasuries to gold, gold prices could reach 5000 dollars per ounce.

Song-ryeol Lee Hankyung.com reporter yisr0203@hankyung.com