Gold Hits Two-Month High on Tame US Inflation Print
Spot gold rose 0.9% to $4,406.64 per ounce by 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT) on August 12, 2026, climbing above its 100-day moving average to touch its highest level in more than two months after a U.S. inflation reading matched expectations Reuters. The data dented market bets that the Federal Reserve would raise rates, removing a key headwind for non-yielding bullion.
The August 12 spot-price move extended a four-session winning streak on the Comex. August delivery gold futures settled $25.90 higher, or 0.59%, at $4,408.90 per troy ounce on August 11, capping a four-session run of $166.90, or 3.93% WSJ. Comex settlements listed on CME Group's page for August 11 showed a price of 4,427.4, a change of +19.2 (+0.44%), as of 9:22:53 PM CT CME Group.
The prior session had seen spot gold trade down 0.4% at $4,369.57 per ounce on August 11 after earlier hitting $4,434.84, its highest level since June 5 CNBC. Market participants had been awaiting the key U.S. inflation data, and the subsequent print, which met consensus expectations, bolstered the case that the central bank would hold rates steady rather than tighten further Reuters.
The trajectory earlier in the month provides context for the magnitude of the move. On August 3, gold futures opened at $4,135.20 per troy ounce, up 0.7% Yahoo Finance. Spot prices on that same day were trading at $4,051 per ounce as of 10 a.m. Eastern Time, a $13 increase from the same time in July Fortune. Gold had first breached the $4,000 per troy ounce threshold in October 2025, trading at approximately $4,003 just after 4 p.m. ET on a Tuesday and marking roughly a 50% gain since the start of that year AP News.
On the structural front, CME Group announced on August 11, 2026, that it will expand 24/7 trading to 100-ounce silver futures following the successful launch of continuous gold trading. The silver contract will be financially settled based on the daily settlement price and represents approximately $219 million in notional value CME Group. The expansion of around-the-clock trading access on the exchange comes as the August 2026 gold futures contract approaches its August 27 settlement date CME Group.
Looking at what this means for market positioning, the rate-sensitivity on display here is the operative variable. When a single in-line inflation print can drive a 0.9% intraday spot rally and extend a four-session futures streak of nearly 4%, the market is pricing not a fundamental shift in the macro regime but a recalibration of the Fed's policy path. The clearance of the 100-day moving average is a technical confirmation that short-term momentum has flipped, with bears unable to defend that line. The broader context is one of a market still processing the implications of gold's 50% run from early 2025 through its initial break above $4,000, now consolidating at elevated nominal levels. For participants, the stakes center on whether this two-month high is a local ceiling or a pivot point for another leg higher, a question that will be settled by the next round of labor and inflation data, not by chart geometry.
