Gold price in January 2006: daily prices, high, low and change
Gold closed January 2006 at $570.80 an ounce, up 10.38% on the month. The highest close was $570.80 on 31 Jan and the lowest $526.30 on 5 Jan. Every trading day below, with ranks and context computed from COMEX data.
Gold price chart, January 2006 (daily close and high-low range, US$ per ounce)
Gold line = daily settlement; bars = intraday high to low where available; dashed line = December 2005 close ($517.10).
Daily gold prices in January 2006 (20 trading days)
| Date | Open | High | Low | Close | Change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 3 Jan | — | — | — | $530.70 | +$13.60 | +2.63% |
| Wed 4 Jan | — | — | — | $533.90 | +$3.20 | +0.60% |
| Thu 5 Jan | $529.00 | $529.00 | $526.00 | $526.30 | −$7.60 | −1.42% |
| Fri 6 Jan | — | — | — | $539.70 | +$13.40 | +2.55% |
| Mon 9 Jan | — | — | — | $549.10 | +$9.40 | +1.74% |
| Tue 10 Jan | — | — | — | $544.30 | −$4.80 | −0.87% |
| Wed 11 Jan | — | — | — | $548.80 | +$4.50 | +0.83% |
| Thu 12 Jan | — | — | — | $548.30 | −$0.50 | −0.09% |
| Fri 13 Jan | — | — | — | $556.10 | +$7.80 | +1.42% |
| Tue 17 Jan | — | — | — | $553.40 | −$2.70 | −0.49% |
| Wed 18 Jan worst day | — | — | — | $543.70 | −$9.70 | −1.75% |
| Thu 19 Jan best day | — | — | — | $558.40 | +$14.70 | +2.70% |
| Fri 20 Jan | — | — | — | $553.50 | −$4.90 | −0.88% |
| Mon 23 Jan | — | — | — | $558.30 | +$4.80 | +0.87% |
| Tue 24 Jan | — | — | — | $557.70 | −$0.60 | −0.11% |
| Wed 25 Jan | — | — | — | $562.20 | +$4.50 | +0.81% |
| Thu 26 Jan | — | — | — | $559.70 | −$2.50 | −0.44% |
| Fri 27 Jan | — | — | — | $558.70 | −$1.00 | −0.18% |
| Mon 30 Jan | $559.20 | $566.00 | $557.60 | $565.80 | +$7.10 | +1.27% |
| Tue 31 Jan | $566.50 | $572.70 | $565.00 | $570.80 | +$5.00 | +0.88% |
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
| January 2006 | Open | High | Low | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Settlements | $530.70 | $570.80 | $526.30 | $570.80 | +10.38% |
Settlements: first, highest, lowest and last daily close of the month (the basis used on the 2006 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 January 2006: summary
It was the largest monthly gain in the daily record, which starts in August 2000. Gold jumped 10.38% in January 2006, from $517.10 at the end of December 2005 to $570.80 an ounce. Settlement prices ranged from $526.30 on 5 January 2006 to $570.80 on 31 January 2006, a spread of $44.50 (8.6%), wider than the 4.8% average of the previous 12 months. Gold closed higher on 11 of 20 trading days and lower on 9; the strongest session was 19 January 2006 (+2.70%) and the weakest 18 January 2006 (−1.75%).
It was gold's 3rd monthly gain in a row.
How January 2006 compares
- Against other Januaries: at +10.38%, January 2006 ranks 3rd of 26 Januaries since 2001 (best first).
- Against every month: it ranks 9th of 313 months since September 2000, better than 97% of them.
- Range: the gap between the highest and lowest close was $44.50, or 8.6% of the opening level, 1.8× the 4.8% average of the previous 12 months.
- Daily moves: the average day moved 1.13% (up or down), against 0.59% over the previous 12 months, so January 2006 was more volatile than usual.
- Streaks: the longest run of higher closes was 2 days and the longest run of lower closes 2 days.
- Bigger picture: at the month-end close gold was +35.32% over 12 months (against the January 2005 close of $421.80).
- Average price: the mean of the 20 daily closes was $550.97; the World Bank's monthly average of the London (LBMA) price was $550.00.
Across the other 25 completed Januaries since 2001, gold averaged +2.66% and rose in 16 of them (64%). January 2006 beat that average by 7.7 percentage points. The gold seasonality tool shows the same statistics for every calendar month, and the monthly returns heatmap lays out all Januaries side by side.
January 2006 in today's dollars
Adjusted for US consumer-price inflation, the $570.80 closing price equals about $963 in September 2026 dollars (CPI 199.3 in January 2006 against 336.3 in September 2026, FRED series CPIAUCSL), 69% 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 2006
The gold price in 2006 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 January 2006?
Gold closed January 2006 at $570.80 an ounce (COMEX settlement). It opened the month at $530.70 and averaged $550.97 across 20 trading days; the World Bank’s London average for the month was $550.00.
Did gold go up in January 2006?
Yes. Gold was up 10.38% in January 2006, from $517.10 at the end of December 2005 to $570.80. It closed higher on 11 of 20 days. Among Januaries since 2001 it ranks 3rd of 26 (best first).
What was the highest gold price in January 2006?
The highest close was $570.80 on 31 January 2006.
What was the lowest gold price in January 2006?
The lowest close was $526.30 on 5 January 2006, $44.50 (8.6%) 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.