Dubai gold flat while bullion loses steam before a crucial Fed decision

Dubai gold stays firm as investors eye Fed’s next move on US interest rates

Last updated:
Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor
Over the first nine days of December, Dubai’s retail gold prices have seen minimal movement.
Over the first nine days of December, Dubai’s retail gold prices have seen minimal movement.
AFP

Dubai: Gold prices in Dubai remained unchanged on Tuesday morning, with 24-karat gold trading at Dh506.25 per gram and 22-karat at Dh468.75. The steady start reflects a cautious tone in global markets as traders await confirmation of an expected US rate cut later this week. (Check latest UAE gold prices here, alongside prices in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and India.)

Over the first nine days of December, Dubai’s retail gold prices have seen minimal movement. The 24-karat rate has hovered between Dh503.75 and Dh511.75, while 22-karat prices ranged from Dh466.50 to Dh473.75. The sharpest daily adjustment came at the start of the month when 24K dropped from Dh511.75 to Dh503.75, tracking global bullion weakness. Since then, prices have stabilised, mirroring a broader pattern of consolidation in global gold markets.

Global gold stalls ahead of Fed decision

On global exchanges, bullion traded near $4,193 an ounce early Tuesday after slipping slightly in the previous session. Traders are positioning ahead of a pivotal Federal Reserve meeting that may set the tone for monetary policy through 2026. US Treasury yields edged higher on Monday as investors prepared for a series of auctions and the Fed’s latest decision on Wednesday.

Swap traders currently expect a quarter-point interest rate cut, but fewer easing moves over the next year than previously projected. Kevin Hassett, considered a leading candidate to become the next Fed chair, said it would be “irresponsible” to lay out a plan for rates over the next six months. His remarks suggested caution at a time when higher rates remain a drag on non-yielding assets such as gold.

Gold has outperformed most major asset classes in 2025, gaining nearly 60% since January. The rally has been driven by heavy central-bank buying and continuous inflows into gold-backed ETFs. Prices touched a record high above $4,380 an ounce in late October before easing back. Despite recent consolidation, sentiment remains buoyed by expectations of further monetary easing in the US.

However, some analysts warn that the rally could be losing strength.

Nivetha Dayanand
Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor
Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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