Gold breaks the barrier of $2,700 for the first time in history.

Gold prices managed to rise strongly in evening trading on Thursday, and the precious metal continued its upward path in today’s trading, recording an all-time high as gold prices broke the $2,700 per ounce level for the first time in history.

The record rise in gold prices came amid the worsening conditions in the Middle East and the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by the Israeli army, which raised market concerns and increased demand for gold as one of the most famous safe-haven assets, leading to a subsequent rise in its prices.

It seems that gold was not significantly affected by the U.S. data released yesterday, which reinforced the likelihood that the U.S. Federal Reserve would not be more aggressive in its interest rate reduction cycle.

Official data revealed that the Philadelphia manufacturing index grew by 10.3 points in September, up from 1.7 points in August, which was better than market expectations that had forecast the index would grow to only 4.2 points. Additionally, U.S. retail sales recorded a growth of 0.4% in August, compared to a growth of 0.1% in July.

Moreover, unemployment claims in the U.S. fell by 19,000 applications to 241,000 new claims last week, which is less than market expectations that pointed to an increase in claims to only 260,000, reflecting a recovery in the U.S. job market.

Current Gold Prices

In today’s trading, spot gold prices rose by about 0.37% to $2,702.81 per ounce, and futures contracts for gold – for December delivery – jumped by approximately $10 to record $2,717.80 per ounce.

On a weekly basis, gold prices are approaching strong weekly gains as the end of this week’s trading approaches, with total gains for gold since the beginning of the week reaching about 1.69%.