Gold (GC=F) futures opened at $3,377.40 per ounce Friday, up 0.8% from Thursday’s close of $3,350.70. Friday’s opening price is down slightly from intraday highs above $3,400 achieved earlier this week.
The May jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released Friday, showed slower hiring and no change from April’s unemployment rate of 4.2%. Nonfarm payroll rose by 139,000, beating the expected increase of 126,000, but lagging April’s revised increase of 147,000. The stable unemployment rate was in line with expectations. Investors are watching jobs data closely to gauge the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy and trade war. Rising unemployment may encourage investors to trim their stock positions in favor of gold as they brace for a possible recession.
Learn more: How to invest in gold in 4 steps
The opening price of gold futures on Friday is up 0.8% from Thursday’s close of $3,350.70 per ounce. Friday’s opening price marks a gain of 2% over the past week, compared to the opening price of $3,315.10 on May 30. In the past month, the gold futures price has risen 0.4% compared to the opening price of $3,365.50 on May 6. In the past year, gold is up 43% from the opening price of $2,355 on June 6, 2024.
24/7 gold price tracking: Don’t forget you can monitor the current price of gold on Yahoo Finance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Want to learn more about the current top-performing companies in the gold industry? Explore a list of the top-performing companies in the gold industry using the Yahoo Finance Screener. You can create your own screeners with over 150 different screening criteria.
The next time you go to Costco (COST), you may want to pick up some gold with that rotisserie chicken. Gold prices have been on a run lately, and what more convenient place can you find to buy a commodity?
In fact, the club store sells gold bars, silver coins, and platinum bars — three precious metals that many investors use to diversify their wealth.
Learn more: Silver prices hit 13-year high as dollar weakens amid tariff uncertainty: ‘The breakout has been brewing’
The club store first offered gold bars in 2023, then added silver (SI=F) and platinum over the next year or so. Meanwhile, gold is hanging around its all-time high. Gold, silver, and platinum are all up more than at least 22% so far in 2025.
Intrigued by Costco’s precious metals offering? Read more here to learn key considerations for precious metals investing, the details of the Costco selection, and tips for managing your new investment.
Whether you’re tracking the price of gold since last month or last year, the price-of-gold chart below shows the precious metal’s steady upward climb in value.
Historically, gold has shown extended up cycles and down cycles. The precious metal was in a growth phase from 2009 to 2011. It then trended down, failing to set a new high for nine years.
In those lackluster years for gold, your position will negatively impact your overall investment returns. If that feels problematic, a lower allocation percentage is more appropriate. On the other hand, you may be willing to accept gold’s underperforming years so you can benefit more in the good years. In this case, you can target a higher percentage.
The precious metal has been in the news lately, and many analysts are bullish on gold. In May, Goldman Sachs Research predicted gold would reach $3,700 a troy ounce by year-end 2025. That would equate to a 40% increase for the year, based on gold’s January 2 opening price of $2,633. Rising demand from central banks, along with uncertainty related to changing U.S. tariff policy, are the factors driving the increase.