Gold set for seventh weekly gain as U.S. shutdown clouds rate path

One kilogram gold bars at the ABC Refinery smelter, operated by Pallion, in Sydney, Australia, on April 17, 2025. Photo by Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

Gold rose on Friday and headed for a seventh weekly advance as the U.S. government shutdown added another layer of uncertainty for investors seeking signals on the United States Federal Reserve ’s monetary-easing path.

Bullion held above US$3,880 an ounce, less than US$20 from a record reached on Thursday. The torrid pace of the advance has left gold vulnerable to pullbacks, with technical indicators showing it’s been trading in overbought territory for the past month.

With the U.S. shutdown delaying Friday’s government payroll report, investors have become reliant on private data for crucial clues about an already murky economic outloo