Gold fell sharply on Friday to a 2026 low, closing a bruising October for precious metals as traders headed into a week dominated by the United States midterm elections and the October jobs report.

Spot gold was at $3,876.40, down $131.74, or 3.29%, against the prior session close of $4,008.14, according to a daily macro report compiled on 1 November. COMEX gold futures told a similar story, settling Friday at $3,898.90, down $132.50, or 3.29%, after trading as low as $3,879.30 during the session. The two measures differ slightly, but both point to the same move: a fall of roughly $132 in a single day.

A weak week and a weak month

Gold fell 2.72% over the past week and 6.87% over October, losing $287.80 across the month. It now trades below both its 20-day average of $4,091.29 and its 50-day average of $4,270.01, a sign of how far the metal has retreated from the year's highs, which included an all-time high near $5,595 in January according to market data.

October's slide came despite gold's haven role, with traders reacting to shifting US rate expectations and profit-taking after a long run higher earlier in the year.

What comes next

Gold reopens at 6pm New York time on Sunday 1 November, which is 11pm GMT, one hour later than last week because US clocks go back that morning. The week ahead brings the US midterm elections on Tuesday 3 November and the October jobs report on Friday 6 November, alongside two closely watched manufacturing surveys. None of those events guarantees a direction for gold, and weekend gaps have been common this year, with the median Monday gap in 2026 measured at $15.80 in one study of futures data. This article reports market prices only and is not investment advice.