Gold cools from record highs: is this dip a smart buy?
Gold cools from record highs: is this dip a smart buy?
Gold prices ease from record highs as MCX futures hover, with analysts weighing whether the pullback offers a buying opportunity amid easing policy bets and a softer dollar.
Gold prices cooled after touching record highs, as February MCX gold futures hovered around Rs 1,35,668 per 10 grams, up 0.54% after earlier slipping about Rs 2,000 to Rs 1,37,900 per 10 grams. Globally, spot gold fell about 1.9% to $4,448.23 an ounce, with U.S. gold futures for February delivery down around 1.9% to $4,467.90. Even with this pullback, gold has surged roughly 80% in 2025, buoyed by expectations of easier U.S. monetary policy, a weaker dollar, ongoing geopolitical tensions, higher sovereign debt levels, and aggressive central bank gold purchases worldwide.
The latest move comes as markets price in additional U.S. rate cuts in the coming year. Fed funds futures imply two to three 25-basis-point cuts next year, with the first cut seen as a near 50/50 proposition by March. This shifting policy backdrop has kept demand for non-yielding assets like gold intact, even as prices retreat from peak levels.
Analysts say the correction could present a buying opportunity for investors seeking to rebalance risk, but they caution that volatility remains a feature of the current environment. A cautious stance, appropriate position sizing, and continued attention to macro signals—especially policy shifts and central bank activity—are likely to guide trading in the near term. In this context, the evolving macro picture suggests gold’s long‑term rally could persist, supported by policy divergence, geopolitical risk, and the ongoing appetite of central banks to accumulate gold reserves.
