Gold heads into the new week below $4,000 an ounce after a bruising end to October, with traders now looking to the United States midterm elections on 3 November and the October jobs report on 6 November for the next move. Spot gold fell to about $3,915 an ounce early on Friday 30 October, down 2.6 percent on the day, after United States inflation data kept a December Federal Reserve rate rise firmly in play. The metal later touched a weekly low of $3,870.25 an ounce, its weakest level in more than a year, as a sharp fall in technology shares accelerated selling across precious metals.

Jobs report and midterms set the next test

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 3.75 to 4 percent on 28 October in a 10-2 vote, with Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissenting in favour of a quarter-point increase. September's personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.5 percent on the month and 3.6 percent from a year earlier, while the core measure reached 3.1 percent, and traders priced in roughly a 75 percent chance of a December increase. Higher rates raise the cost of holding gold, which pays no interest, and that has been the main drag on the metal through the week.

Metal Sentinel expects gold to trade between $3,850 and $4,050 in the week of 2 November, with Friday's jobs report deciding which end of the range is tested. A stronger-than-expected payrolls number would support December hike odds and push gold towards $3,850, while a weak report could ease those odds and give the metal room to recover. Silver also broke below $50 an ounce on Friday, its lowest since November 2025, underlining how broad the precious metals sell-off has become.