The price of gold has reached a new all-time high

Gold jumped to a new record high on Friday after three straight weeks of gains on bets that U.S. interest rates could soon be cut and on safe-haven buying amid turmoil in the Middle East and elsewhere.

New York gold futures rose 1.6% on Friday to close at $2,089.70 an ounce, topping the previous high set on Aug. 6, 2020. Earlier on Friday, the precious metal hit an intraday high of $2,095.70.

“Gold will retreat if there is an aggressive push. But it is possible that gold will retest all-time highs,” said Everett Millman, chief market analyst at Gainesville Coins/

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said earlier that he believes U.S. inflation is "on track" to meet the Fed's 2% target, meaning further rate hikes will no longer be necessary.

Data on Thursday showed U.S. consumer spending rose modestly in October, while the annual increase in inflation was the weakest in more than two-and-a-half years.

Traders are now pricing in a 50% chance of a Fed rate cut in March, CME's FedWatch Tool showed.

But "prices may have entered overbought territory and gold has been known to weigh on monetary policy expectations prematurely over the past two years," Standard Chartered analyst Suki Cooper said in a note.

Earlier this week, BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, released its gold forecast, saying prices would remain between $1,900 and $2,000 an ounce in the coming months.