Gold Price Tests $4,000 Floor Ahead of Divisive Fed Decision

The gold price slipped back below $4,000 an ounce on Tuesday, as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. The Comex August contract traded at $4,021.20 per ounce by mid-morning in New York, down 1.4% on the day.

Silver prices fell even harder, with the September metal changing hands at $57.14 an ounce, down 2.7%. This puts it about $1.60 above its 2026 low of $55.50, set in July.

The Federal Reserve is expected to make a decision on Wednesday, and interest-rate swaps put the chance of a quarter-point increase at about one in three. Policymakers are caught between June's tamer-than-expected inflation reading and the more recent rise in oil prices that came with the flare-up in fighting between the US and Iran.