Kitco News) – It was the best of weeks, it was the worst of weeks, as the gold market performed like a meme stock, blowing through unprecedented price levels on its way to $5,600 before stalling and crashing further and faster than at any time in recent memory – but finishing down less than 2% all told.
Spot gold kicked off the week trading at $5,021.97, and the early sessions saw very little drama, with gold trading in a $60 range up to $5,100, with a brief dip down to test support at $5,000 per ounce shortly after Monday’s North American equity close.
The yellow metal first began to see real momentum on Tuesday afternoon, the spot gold breaking above $5,100 just before 3:00 p.m. Eastern before rocketing all the way to $5,185 by 4:30 p.m. The Asian session kicked off with spot gold trading at $5,170 per ounce, but the bull run was officially underway now, with gold rising to the very edge of $5,300 per ounce by 3:15 a.m. EST.
per ounce... by 3:30 it had reached $5,384. After a slight dip down into the equity close, gold rocketed higher once again, blowing through $5,500 like it wasn't there to hit $5,531 per ounce by 6:30 p.m.
Now the volatility began, as gold prices set what proved to be the new all-time high of $5,600 just before midnight before dipping back down to $5,483 by 3:30 a.m. EST Thursday morning. After a second bounce at this level just before 6:00 a.m., gold prices made one final push to reclaim the recent highs just before the North American open.
It didn't work, and the failure was as swift as it was spectacular. Spot gold fell from $5,544 per ounce at 9:15 a.m. Eastern all the way to $5,124 per ounce by 10:30 a.m.
The bounce was nearly as violent as the fall, however, with gold trading near $5,300 once again by 11:15, before hitting $5,370 by 12:30 p.m., and ultimately topping out just shy of $5,450 per ounce at 7:00 p.m.