Gold prices record their third rise for the third consecutive day.

Gold prices managed to rise for the third consecutive session during trading on Thursday, as the precious metal heads toward a new record level close to $2,685 per ounce.

This coincided with market anticipation for the release of retail sales and unemployment claims data in the United States later today, which could have potential implications for future gold trades.

In this regard, gold continues to enjoy strong support from increasing expectations of an interest rate cut in the United States again at the upcoming November meeting. A tool from the CME Group shows that markets see a 92.1% chance that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 basis points at the November meeting.

Consequently, this scenario may negatively affect the U.S. dollar and positively impact gold as one of the commodities priced in greenbacks, as demand for gold usually fluctuates with dollar movements.

On the other hand, the ongoing tensions in the Middle East continue to fuel the recent rise in gold prices, especially after some news reports yesterday revealed that Israel would launch retaliatory strikes against Iran before the U.S. presidential elections on November 5.

This has sparked market concerns regarding the extension of the conflict in the Middle East and the outbreak of a regional war, especially since Iran has previously issued warnings that the Islamic Republic is prepared to respond militarily to any potential attacks, which has further supported the rise in gold prices during today’s trading.

Current Gold Prices

Looking at today’s trading, spot gold prices jumped about 0.32% to reach $2,682.18 per ounce, and also, gold futures contracts for December delivery rose by approximately 0.19% to record $2,696.35 per ounce.