Gold prices inched higher at the opening of the markets in Dubai on the first trading day of the week, moving closer to last week's all-time high.

According to Dubai Jewellery Group data, 24K opened higher at Dh439.25 per gram, 22K at Dh406.75, 21K at Dh390 and 18K at Dh334.25.

Spot gold was trading at $3,646.32 per ounce, up 0.1 per cent at 9.30 am UAE time.

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.

The precious metal rallied to an all-time high last week, as 22K touched Dh408 per gram on Tuesday. The market retested the high again on Friday but eased later.

The rally in global prices is driven by interest rate cut expectations by the US Federal Reserve, central bank buy, and geopolitical tensions around the world. The markets are looking forward to the US Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday for clues to its decision about further interest rate cuts.

Following a strong rally, some analysts expect a correction in the yellow metal prices.

Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said gold reacts strongly to geopolitics and has reached another record high, rising for the fourth week in a row.

“Washington is ready to wage economic war on the Kremlin's main allies, India and China, if Brussels supports it. As a result, there is an increased risk that central banks will step up their gold purchases as part of their reserve diversification and de-dollarisation processes. Geopolitics has made the precious metal less sensitive to the Fed's monetary policy. Even the resurgent US dollar has been unable to put a spoke in gold's wheel. Neither could the White House's announcement that it would exclude this asset from the list of potential tariffs,” said Kuptsikevich.

He added that if the US President Donald Trump manages to drive a“wedge between Russia, India, and China, oil prices will rise, and inflation will accelerate. A stagflationary environment and increased central bank purchases of bullion will help gold.”
However, in the short term, he noted technical overbought conditions after an impressive rise.

“This was reflected in the stabilisation of prices from Tuesday to Thursday, contrary to the continued growth of silver and other precious metals and new highs in stock indices,” he said, adding that the the expected cut in the key rate on Wednesday risks triggering a“buy the rumours, sell the fact” pattern.

MENAFN15092025000049011007ID1110061400