Gold Surges 15.3% in August as Futures Contracts Soar

Gold prices surged in August 2026, rising as much as 15.3% month-to-date.

This marked a significant break out of a multi-month falling wedge and vaulted gold back above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

The increase was driven by 30.4k COMEX futures long contracts added in a single COT week, which ranked in the top 2.9% of all COT weeks since January 1986.

Despite the speed of the move, gold is only about 3.5% above its 200-day average, suggesting less immediate downside risk for hedging and royalty strategies.