Gold prices are trading above $3,350 USD per ounce today, rising to as high as $3,370 in early trading and marking a fresh three-week high. The metal is up about 0.5% on the day, supported by renewed safe-haven demand as President Trump escalates global trade tensions with new 30% tariffs on imports from the European Union and Mexico, set to take effect August 1. Additional tariff threats against Japan, South Korea, and other partners have further unsettled markets, keeping gold in focus as a hedge against uncertainty. Despite the firmer U.S. dollar and higher Treasury yields, gold remains resilient, with ongoing central bank buying and persistent geopolitical risks underpinning prices.
Last updated: July 14, 2025 10:05am EST
What is the Spot Price of Gold?
The spot price of gold is the most common standard used to gauge the going rate for buying or selling one troy ounce of gold. The price is driven by speculation in the markets, currency values, current events, and many other factors. Gold spot price is used as the basis for most bullion dealers to determine the exact price to charge for a specific coin or bar. These prices are calculated in troy ounces and change every couple of seconds during market hours.We list live gold and silver prices as well as historical charts across both markets. Our charts are updated in real-time, 24 hours a day.
See more: Gold Price per Gram – Gold Price per Kilo
What Factors Influence the Price of Gold?
The explosive growth of the price of gold in the past few years has garnered attention from many people outside of the precious metals community. Those new to the conversation may wonder what factors have caused this meteoric rise.
The table below is a quick rundown on the different elements that can move the spot price’s needle. Please note that our relationship column classifies each element as in either a direct or inverse relationship to the price of gold. In other words, if gold’s price increases when the driver does, they have a direct relationship. If not, then they are inversely related.
| Factor | Gold Price | Relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Supply | Lower supply raises the price of gold | Inverse |
| Demand | Higher demand raises the price of gold | Direct |
| US dollar value | A weaker dollar boosts the spot price of gold | Inverse |
| Economic stability | As stability increases, gold price drops | Inverse |
| Inflation | Higher inflation means higher-priced gold | Direct |
| Interest rates | Lower rates make gold more expensive | Inverse |
| Geopolitical risk | With more uncertainty comes higher gold price | Direct |
| Central bank purchasing | A large bit of purchasing makes gold go higher | Direct |
| Central bank selling | A major selloff drops the spot price of gold | Inverse |
Gold as an Investment
Gold is available for investment in the form of bullion and paper certificates. Physical gold bullion is produced by many private and government mints both in the USA and worldwide. This option is most commonly found in bar, coin, and round form, with a vast amount of sizes available for each.
Gold bars can range anywhere in size from one gram up to 400 ounces, while most coins are found in one ounce and fractional sizes. Like other precious metals, physical gold is regarded by some as a good way to protect themselves against the ongoing devaluation of fiat currencies and from volatile stock markets.
Buying gold certificates is another way to invest in the metal. A gold certificate is basically a piece of paper stating that you own a specified amount of gold stored at an off-site location. This is different from owning bullion unencumbered and outright because you are never actually taking physical ownership of the gold. While some investors enjoy the ease of buying paper gold, some prefer to see and hold their precious metals first-hand.
See more: Gold Bars – Gold Coins – Gold Rounds – Goldbacks
Investing in Physical Gold vs. Gold Derivatives
Gold derivatives allow you to invest in gold without owning physical gold. Examples of derivatives include gold futures contracts, options, and ETFs. Derivatives allow you to gain some exposure to gold, but in more complex ways. You may be able to hedge your other investments, including physical gold, or even use leverage to gain access to larger amounts of gold than you normally would.
However, these instruments don’t always follow the price of gold exactly and directly. Because of this lack of tether, there are several risks and considerations that go with them – risks that you don’t have with physical gold. Here are a few of the biggest concerns:
- Their value is not simply a function of the price of gold, but also reflects the prevailing attitudes of investors. Thus, for better or worse, personal opinions weigh into the price of derivatives in a way foreign to physical gold investment.
- The presence of leverage means that you are at risk of losing more money than you initially invested. Because you are borrowing a large portion of money to buy your derivative, you can find yourself far behind the eight ball if things go south.
- The fortunes of derivatives can be unhealthily tied to the whims of the economy. While they likely move in the opposite direction of the market, a complete market crash kills their value entirely.
There are benefits to owning physical gold bullion that derivatives don’t provide. Its tangibility provides a store of value that defies any ebbs and flows of the fiat currency markets. Because your net worth is kept within an actual object, it can be stored, secured, and transported whenever and however you like.
The value of gold is also much more predictable than that of derivatives. It varies inversely with the market fairly consistently. When the economy is down, gold is almost always up. As a result, it provides diversification and hedging in a way that derivatives may not.
Finally, there is likely no better defense against inflation than physical gold. As the dollar is rendered more dilute, the value of gold is necessarily going to escalate – even though it’s just sitting there.
Costs of owning physical gold vs. gold ETFs
A gold exchange-traded fund, or ETF, is a derivative that allows you to buy gold without ever taking physical possession of it. The fund itself invests in an amount of physical gold, and you buy shares of the fund as an ownership stake in the collected physical gold.
Gold ETFs make their money by charging annual management fees. These fees, typically charged as a percentage of your investment between 0.25% and 0.40%, slowly erode the overall value of your investment. Thus, gold’s appreciation year-over-year, along with its effect on the investment itself, is responsible for overcoming these fees to show a profit.
Physical gold’s costs appear in the form of the premiums that dealers charge for their services and facilitating the deals. The percentage charged depends greatly on the type of physical gold you buy. Gold bars and simple rounds are usually available for 1% to 5% above the spot price, but some gold coins can charge between 10% and 20%, depending on their rarity.
As an example of costs, let’s assume you invested $1,000 per year for 20 years (total $20,000), a flat gold price, a 2% premium on physical gold, and a 0.25% annual ETF fee.
As you can see, you’ll pay more in premiums for physical gold than you will in fees for a gold ETF in the early years. If your investment window is shorter, an ETF would be a better deal in this dimension, although there are still the issues associated with ETFs that we described above.
| Timeframe | Total Physical Gold | Total Gold ETF |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | $20 | $3 |
| 5 years | $100 | $38 |
| 10 years | $200 | $138 |
| 15 years | $300 | $300 |
| 20 years | $400 | $525 |
However, as more time passes, the fees you pay will increase exponentially and result in higher fees, both in the individual year and the total amount of fees paid overall. Thus, if you plan on holding your investment for a long period of time, the cost profile for physical gold grows more attractive as time passes.