New York, Feb 4, 2026, 06:06 EST — Premarket
- Spot gold climbed roughly 3%, edging back toward $5,100 an ounce in early trading
- Safe-haven demand surged once the U.S. military announced it had shot down an Iranian drone close to a carrier
- With the official U.S. jobs report postponed, traders are focusing on private payrolls data
Gold prices edged back toward $5,100 an ounce in early European trading Wednesday, driven by safe-haven buying after the U.S. military shot down an Iranian drone near an aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea. Spot gold climbed 2.9% to $5,082.94 per ounce by 0813 GMT. Meanwhile, U.S. gold futures for April gained 3.4%, hitting $5,103.50. This followed Tuesday’s sharp nearly 6% surge—the metal’s largest one-day increase since November 2008.
The rapid reversal highlights just how quickly sentiment has shifted in a market that was hitting record highs only last week. Gold bounced back from a Monday low of $4,403.24, after peaking at $5,594.82 last Thursday and enduring its steepest two-day drop in decades.
Volatility is hitting just as U.S. traders lose a crucial rate benchmark. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the January jobs report won’t drop Friday because of the partial federal government shutdown. “It will be rescheduled upon the resumption of government funding,” BLS associate commissioner Emily Liddel said. The shutdown started when Congress missed its funding deadline. House leaders expect a vote this week to end the impasse. Reuters
ANZ’s Soni Kumari called the recent pullback “expected” after gold’s sharp rise, noting that “fundamentals have not changed much” amid ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Goldman Sachs sees upside risk to its $5,400 year-end gold forecast, citing steady central bank buying and stronger inflows into gold-backed ETFs—funds holding bullion. IndusInd Securities’ Jigar Trivedi held firm on a $6,000-per-ounce year-end target despite the volatility. The Star
Other precious metals tracked gold’s moves, but last week showed how quickly the entire sector can swing both ways when liquidity dries up and positions get crowded.
The rally in bullion has crept into crypto too. Tokenized gold — digital coins backed by real metal stored in vaults — are seeing a pickup in demand. According to CoinGecko, almost 20 such tokens now hold a combined market value near $6 billion as of Monday. Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault, cautioned that ownership isn’t always straightforward. “It’s not clear what you actually own,” he said, noting that legal claims can get complicated if a dispute arises. Reuters
But this rebound feels shaky. Gold yields no interest, so it can fall out of favor fast if investors shift back toward betting on higher U.S. rates or if the geopolitical risk premium disappears as suddenly as it showed up.
Investors will turn their attention Wednesday to ADP’s National Employment Report, a key gauge of private-sector payrolls and labor demand. The firm plans to release its January numbers at 8:15 a.m. ET. This report is especially notable now, given the pause in the official jobs data.
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