Today's gold and silver price per gram

What moves the gold price?

The price at the top of this page changes every few seconds, but what actually moves it is five things that have repeated for decades. The dollar first: gold is priced in dollars per ounce, so when the dollar rises against the major currencies the ounce becomes dearer for the rest of the world, demand softens and the price tends to fall; the reverse when the dollar weakens. US interest rates second: gold pays no interest, so the higher the real yield on US Treasuries, the more it pays to hold bonds rather than metal. That is why gold usually rises when the market expects rate cuts and falls when it expects hikes, and why Federal Reserve meetings are the most watched dates in a gold follower's calendar.

Inflation third: gold has long been bought as protection against money losing its value, so inflation data and oil prices lift inflation expectations and support gold, unless central banks answer with higher rates. Central banks fourth: their purchases of gold for their reserves (China, Turkey, India and the Gulf states have been among the largest buyers in recent years) are a large, steady demand that supports the price from below whatever the day's swings. Physical demand fifth: wedding seasons in India, Egypt and the Gulf, jewellery and industrial buying, and the anxiety of a geopolitical crisis that sends people into gold on the same day shares fall.

The gram price in your currency adds a sixth driver, the exchange rate: in India, Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey the gram moves with the ounce and with the local dollar rate together, while in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Jordan the gram follows the ounce alone because the currency is pegged to the dollar. That is why gold can rise in a Cairo or Karachi shop on a day the ounce did not move at all.

How do you read these drivers together? A rising dollar with rising bond yields usually means pressure on gold; a falling dollar with expected rate cuts usually means support; a sudden crisis lifts gold and the fear index on the same day. The market pulse page shows these indicators live, and the gold outlook page reads them statistically, without promises. The full explanation with examples is in the article What moves the gold price: rates, the dollar, inflation, central banks and demand.