ISLAMABAD: Gold prices have surged to an unprecedented peak, exceeding $4,000 per troy ounce (31.1 g), as global investors have increasingly gravitated toward the asset over the past year.
Gold futures, agreements to buy or sell gold at a set price, surpassed this milestone on October 7, 2025, with the spot price following suit on October 8, 2025, during Asian trading sessions.
Gold has long been regarded as a favoured “safe haven asset” during periods of economic uncertainty, as it is a tangible commodity that can be owned and stored. However, its surge in recent months suggests a more profound shift: gold may finally be emerging as an “asset for all occasions”. Gold prices have risen more than 50 percent since the start of 2025 in a historic rally for the asset.
Much of the surge has been driven by United States President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House at the beginning of the year. Gold prices rose sharply in April when Trump initiated a trade war against much of the world, and rallied again in August as the US president challenged the independence of the Federal Reserve—the US central bank. Amid such uncertainty, many investors turned to more reliable assets, such as gold.
Trump’s tariffs and clashes with the Federal Reserve are not the only factors propelling gold’s continued ascent: Japan’s leadership election over the weekend, the US government shutdown, and a deepening political crisis in France following the resignation of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu have also contributed.
Gold prices typically rise during periods of uncertainty, stabilise, and then climb again amid economic volatility. For instance, between June 2020 and February 2024, gold prices fluctuated between $1,600 and slightly more than $2,100 per ounce, without extreme swings. Gold prices increased by approximately another 30 percent in 2024. Yet even that advance has been eclipsed in the first nine months of 2025, with prices curving sharply upward.