New York, January 6, 2026, 06:12 (EST) — Premarket
Shares of SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) rose $10.41, or 2.6%, to $408.76 in U.S. premarket trading on Tuesday as bullion held near recent highs.
The move matters because gold is back to trading as both a hedge and a rates play at the same time. Investors have been leaning into safety and repricing the path for U.S. interest rates, two forces that tend to work in gold’s favor.
Spot gold was up 0.1% at $4,452.60 an ounce by 4:46 a.m. EST after rising nearly 3% in the previous session; U.S. February futures gained 0.3% to $4,462.60. Traders cited safe-haven demand after the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who pleaded not guilty in New York on Monday, alongside growing expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts. “Gold is supported by safe-haven demand and rising bets on Fed rate cuts,” said ActivTrades analyst Ricardo Evangelista. Reuters
U.S. data helped harden that rates narrative. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 47.9 in December, the lowest since October 2024, marking a 10th straight month below 50; readings under 50 mean the sector is shrinking.
Gold is a non-yielding asset — it does not pay interest — so it often looks more attractive when investors think borrowing costs are headed lower. In periods of uncertainty, it can also draw “safe-haven” demand from investors looking to park money in assets viewed as more resilient.
Other gold-linked funds and miners moved in tandem before the opening bell. iShares Gold Trust (IAU) rose 2.6% and SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust (GLDM) gained 2.6%, while VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) added 3.2%; Newmont rose 2.3%, Agnico Eagle Mines gained 2.8% and Wheaton Precious Metals added 2.6%.
GLD is built to track the gold price by holding physical bullion and letting investors trade exposure through a listed security, rather than storing bars themselves. The sponsor describes it as the world’s largest physically backed gold exchange-traded fund (ETF), or a fund that trades like a stock.
But gold’s bid can fade quickly if incoming U.S. data forces traders to dial back rate-cut expectations, lifting yields and the dollar. A rapid cooling in headline geopolitical risk would also test how much of the recent move is “safe-haven” premium versus fundamental demand.
