Gold price in May 2002: daily prices, high, low and change
Gold closed May 2002 at $326.50 an ounce, up 5.70% on the month. The highest close was $326.50 on 31 May and the lowest $307.30 on 14 May. Every trading day below, with ranks and context computed from COMEX data.
Gold price chart, May 2002 (daily close and high-low range, US$ per ounce)
Gold line = daily settlement; bars = intraday high to low where available; dashed line = April 2002 close ($308.90).
Daily gold prices in May 2002 (22 trading days)
| Date | Open | High | Low | Close | Change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 1 May | — | — | — | $309.10 | +$0.20 | +0.06% |
| Thu 2 May | — | — | — | $308.30 | −$0.80 | −0.26% |
| Fri 3 May | — | — | — | $312.20 | +$3.90 | +1.27% |
| Mon 6 May | — | — | — | $311.20 | −$1.00 | −0.32% |
| Tue 7 May | — | — | — | $311.60 | +$0.40 | +0.13% |
| Wed 8 May worst day | — | — | — | $308.20 | −$3.40 | −1.09% |
| Thu 9 May | $307.50 | $309.50 | $307.50 | $309.50 | +$1.30 | +0.42% |
| Fri 10 May | — | — | — | $311.00 | +$1.50 | +0.48% |
| Mon 13 May | $311.00 | $311.00 | $310.60 | $310.60 | −$0.40 | −0.13% |
| Tue 14 May | $307.50 | $307.50 | $306.80 | $307.30 | −$3.30 | −1.06% |
| Wed 15 May | — | — | — | $308.70 | +$1.40 | +0.46% |
| Thu 16 May | — | — | — | $309.80 | +$1.10 | +0.36% |
| Fri 17 May | — | — | — | $310.60 | +$0.80 | +0.26% |
| Mon 20 May best day | — | — | — | $315.70 | +$5.10 | +1.64% |
| Tue 21 May | — | — | — | $315.80 | +$0.10 | +0.03% |
| Wed 22 May | — | — | — | $318.00 | +$2.20 | +0.70% |
| Thu 23 May | — | — | — | $322.50 | +$4.50 | +1.42% |
| Fri 24 May | — | — | — | $320.40 | −$2.10 | −0.65% |
| Tue 28 May | — | — | — | $323.90 | +$3.50 | +1.09% |
| Wed 29 May | — | — | — | $325.40 | +$1.50 | +0.46% |
| Thu 30 May | $325.40 | $326.70 | $323.50 | $325.50 | +$0.10 | +0.03% |
| Fri 31 May | $325.00 | $329.00 | $324.20 | $326.50 | +$1.00 | +0.31% |
Close = COMEX gold futures settlement in US dollars per troy ounce; change is against the previous trading day's close. Open, high and low are shown as — on 17 days where the source has no usable intraday data (common before 2012, when the front-month contract traded thinly in the data feed).
Monthly open, high, low and close
| May 2002 | Open | High | Low | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Settlements | $309.10 | $326.50 | $307.30 | $326.50 | +5.70% |
Settlements: first, highest, lowest and last daily close of the month (the basis used on the 2002 page and the monthly returns heatmap). Intraday highs and lows are not shown because the source lacks usable intraday data for part of this month.
Source: COMEX gold futures (GC=F) daily settlements and intraday bars via Yahoo Finance; US CPI (FRED CPIAUCSL) for the inflation adjustment; World Bank Pink Sheet for the monthly London average. Figures are final settlements; sources may occasionally revise historical data.
Gold in May 2002: summary
Gold climbed 5.70% in May 2002, from $308.90 at the end of April 2002 to $326.50 an ounce. Gold closed higher on 16 of 22 trading days and lower on 6; the strongest session was 20 May 2002 (+1.64%) and the weakest 8 May 2002 (−1.09%). Settlement prices ranged from $307.30 on 14 May 2002 to $326.50 on 31 May 2002, a spread of $19.20 (6.2%), wider than the 4.8% average of the previous 12 months.
It was gold's 6th monthly gain in a row.
How May 2002 compares
- Against other Mays: at +5.70%, May 2002 ranks 4th of 26 Mays since 2001 (best first).
- Against every month: it ranks 54th of 313 months since September 2000, better than 83% of them.
- Range: the gap between the highest and lowest close was $19.20, or 6.2% of the opening level, 1.3× the 4.8% average of the previous 12 months.
- Daily moves: the average day moved 0.57% (up or down), against 0.63% over the previous 12 months, so May 2002 was about as volatile as usual.
- Streaks: the longest run of higher closes was 7 days and the longest run of lower closes 2 days.
- Bigger picture: at the month-end close gold was +17.15% for 2002 to the end of May and +23.07% over 12 months (against the May 2001 close of $265.30).
- Average price: the mean of the 22 daily closes was $314.63; the World Bank's monthly average of the London (LBMA) price was $314.00.
Across the other 25 completed Mays since 2001, gold averaged +0.05% and rose in 12 of them (48%). May 2002 beat that average by 5.6 percentage points. The gold seasonality tool shows the same statistics for every calendar month, and the monthly returns heatmap lays out all Mays side by side.
May 2002 in today's dollars
Adjusted for US consumer-price inflation, the $326.50 closing price equals about $612 in September 2026 dollars (CPI 179.5 in May 2002 against 336.3 in September 2026, FRED series CPIAUCSL), 87% more than the nominal figure. The gold price history hub restates every year's close on the same basis, and the all-time-high tracker lists every record close in nominal dollars.
Gold price by month in 2002
The gold price in 2002 page has the year's open, high, low and close, and the monthly archive on the gold price history hub explains how these month pages are built.
Frequently asked questions
What was the gold price in May 2002?
Gold closed May 2002 at $326.50 an ounce (COMEX settlement). It opened the month at $309.10 and averaged $314.63 across 22 trading days; the World Bank’s London average for the month was $314.00.
Did gold go up in May 2002?
Yes. Gold was up 5.70% in May 2002, from $308.90 at the end of April 2002 to $326.50. It closed higher on 16 of 22 days. Among Mays since 2001 it ranks 4th of 26 (best first).
What was the highest gold price in May 2002?
The highest close was $326.50 on 31 May 2002.
What was the lowest gold price in May 2002?
The lowest close was $307.30 on 14 May 2002, $19.20 (6.2%) below the month’s highest close.
Educational information only, not financial advice and not a forecast. Past prices do not predict future prices. See our risk disclaimer and editorial policy.