Gold Posts Its Best Week Since August Despite a Jobs-Driven Friday Dip; Analysts Split on Next Move

Gold logged its strongest weekly gain since August in the week ended Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, recovering from a one-year low the previous week. A stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report trimmed prices in Friday’s session, and analysts surveyed by Kitco News were divided on where the metal goes next.

Weekly settlement data

Front-month Comex gold for November delivery rose $178.80 an ounce, or 4.60%, for the week to $4,064.50, according to Dow Jones Market Data. It was the largest one-week dollar and percentage gain since the week ending Aug. 21, 2026, and it ended a three-week losing streak. On Friday alone, the contract fell $38.00, or 0.93%, its largest one-day decline since Oct. 30.

Dow Jones said the weekly gain left front-month gold 4.60% above its 52-week and 2026 settlement low of $3,885.70, set on Oct. 30. It was still 23.58% below the record settlement of $5,318.40 reached on Jan. 29, 2026, and down $261.10, or 6.04%, for the year to date.

In the spot market, gold fell 0.6% to $4,065.44 an ounce at 4:43 p.m. ET on Friday but was up 4.9% for the week, Investing.com reported. December gold futures fell 0.9% to $4,074.75 and gained 4.5% for the week.

How the week unfolded

Spot gold began the week at $3,875.21 an ounce on Sunday evening, according to Kitco News. It rose Monday as falling oil prices eased inflation concerns, then briefly slipped back below $3,900 on Tuesday as yields and the dollar firmed. The rally picked up after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections. Treasury yields and the dollar fell sharply, and gold climbed back above $4,000. Spot prices reached a weekly high of $4,147.02 on Thursday before a technology-led selloff in stocks set off liquidation across markets.

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October, compared with a consensus estimate of 65,000, and that the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% from 4.2%. Investing.com said CME FedWatch odds of a quarter-point rate hike at the Fed’s Dec. 9 meeting rose to nearly 79% from almost 73% before the data. Higher interest rates tend to weigh on gold, which pays no interest, and a stronger dollar makes bullion more expensive for buyers using other currencies. Kitco said spot gold fell toward $4,030 after the report, then recovered to just under $4,070 heading into the weekly close.

Investing.com noted that analysts have linked gold and crude oil this year because an energy-price shock affects interest-rate expectations. Oil fell sharply during the week on hopes of an end to the Iran war, which supported gold’s weekly advance.

Kitco survey: Wall Street divided, Main Street bullish

Thirteen analysts took part in Kitco’s weekly gold survey. Four, or 31%, expected prices to rise in the coming week, five, or 38%, expected a decline, and four, or 31%, expected sideways trading. In Kitco’s online poll of 212 retail participants, 143, or 68%, expected higher prices, 32, or 15%, expected lower prices and 37, or 18%, expected consolidation.

Marc Chandler, managing director at Bannockburn Global Forex, told Kitco that gold “seemed to act like a safe haven for most of last week.” He said he was not convinced the metal had bottomed and that a break below $3,975 would support his doubts. Adam Button, head of currency strategy at investingLive, expected higher prices. Adrian Day, president of Adrian Day Asset Management, said gold could give back most of its post-election rally in the short term because optimism about an early end to the Iran war may be overdone.

John Weyer, co-director of commercial hedging at Walsh Trading, said the election does not change the Federal Reserve’s path and that traders will have to wait to see what the central bank does in December.

Data on deck

Next week’s calendar is light but focused on inflation. The October consumer price index is due Tuesday, Nov. 10, followed by weekly jobless claims and October existing-home sales on Thursday and the producer price index on Friday, Nov. 13, Kitco said. Those reports will feed into expectations for the Fed’s Dec. 9 decision, which is closely tied to the dollar and Treasury yields.

Sources: Dow Jones Market Data via Morningstar, Nov. 6, 2026; Investing.com, Nov. 6, 2026; Kitco News, Nov. 6, 2026.