Gold extends five-day gain as US Treasury yields drop

Gold is having a moment. Prices settled in the $4,650 to $4,700 per ounce range in late August 2026, capping a fifth straight session of gains and a weekly advance of roughly 5% to 7%. Three forces converged to push gold higher: US Treasury yields fell sharply, oil prices followed suit, and diplomats in the Middle East made progress on one of the world’s most consequential shipping lanes. Why yields matter more than almost anything else for gold Ten-year Treasury yields slipped to between 4.64% and 4.70%, while 30-year yields hovered around 5.17%. The proximate cause was a US Treasury decision to significantly expand buybacks of longer-dated debt, essentially doubling the volume of 10- to 30-year securities it is repurchasing from the market. More buyers for existing long-dated bonds pushes their prices up and their yields down. Lower yields reduce the cost of holding gold, which generates no income. A weaker dollar, which tends to follow falling yields, makes gold cheaper for buyers using other currencies, broadening demand further. The US national debt has now climbed past $40 trillion, and the Treasury’s buyback program is partly aimed at managing the yield curve and maintaining...