Gold price in January 2012: daily prices, high, low and change
Gold closed January 2012 at $1,737.80 an ounce, up 10.98% on the month. The highest close was $1,737.80 on 31 Jan and the lowest $1,599.70 on 3 Jan. Every trading day below, with ranks and context computed from COMEX data.
Gold price chart, January 2012 (daily close and high-low range, US$ per ounce)
Gold line = daily settlement; bars = intraday high to low where available; dashed line = December 2011 close ($1,565.80).
Daily gold prices in January 2012 (20 trading days)
| Date | Open | High | Low | Close | Change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 3 Jan best day | $1,568.90 | $1,604.30 | $1,566.00 | $1,599.70 | +$33.90 | +2.17% |
| Wed 4 Jan | $1,596.60 | $1,618.60 | $1,594.50 | $1,611.90 | +$12.20 | +0.76% |
| Thu 5 Jan | $1,610.80 | $1,624.10 | $1,597.80 | $1,619.40 | +$7.50 | +0.47% |
| Fri 6 Jan | $1,622.50 | $1,627.80 | $1,616.10 | $1,616.10 | −$3.30 | −0.20% |
| Mon 9 Jan | $1,614.30 | $1,620.10 | $1,607.50 | $1,607.50 | −$8.60 | −0.53% |
| Tue 10 Jan | $1,619.90 | $1,638.00 | $1,619.90 | $1,631.00 | +$23.50 | +1.46% |
| Wed 11 Jan | $1,634.80 | $1,645.40 | $1,633.80 | $1,639.20 | +$8.20 | +0.50% |
| Thu 12 Jan | $1,645.20 | $1,656.10 | $1,645.20 | $1,647.30 | +$8.10 | +0.49% |
| Fri 13 Jan worst day | $1,638.90 | $1,643.40 | $1,630.40 | $1,630.40 | −$16.90 | −1.03% |
| Tue 17 Jan | $1,643.70 | $1,657.80 | $1,642.10 | $1,655.20 | +$24.80 | +1.52% |
| Wed 18 Jan | $1,654.00 | $1,660.30 | $1,654.00 | $1,659.50 | +$4.30 | +0.26% |
| Thu 19 Jan | $1,663.00 | $1,664.40 | $1,653.50 | $1,654.10 | −$5.40 | −0.33% |
| Fri 20 Jan | $1,652.80 | $1,664.30 | $1,652.80 | $1,663.70 | +$9.60 | +0.58% |
| Mon 23 Jan | $1,676.90 | $1,680.00 | $1,669.90 | $1,678.00 | +$14.30 | +0.86% |
| Tue 24 Jan | $1,666.90 | $1,668.20 | $1,664.20 | $1,664.20 | −$13.80 | −0.82% |
| Wed 25 Jan | $1,673.00 | $1,706.20 | $1,672.00 | $1,699.80 | +$35.60 | +2.14% |
| Thu 26 Jan | $1,729.00 | $1,729.00 | $1,721.00 | $1,726.30 | +$26.50 | +1.56% |
| Fri 27 Jan | $1,727.00 | $1,734.10 | $1,727.00 | $1,731.80 | +$5.50 | +0.32% |
| Mon 30 Jan | $1,737.20 | $1,739.90 | $1,715.70 | $1,731.00 | −$0.80 | −0.05% |
| Tue 31 Jan | $1,731.70 | $1,747.70 | $1,725.00 | $1,737.80 | +$6.80 | +0.39% |
Close = COMEX gold futures settlement in US dollars per troy ounce; change is against the previous trading day's close.
Monthly open, high, low and close
| January 2012 | Open | High | Low | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Settlements | $1,599.70 | $1,737.80 | $1,599.70 | $1,737.80 | +10.98% |
| Intraday | $1,568.90 | $1,747.70 31 Jan | $1,566.00 3 Jan | $1,737.80 | — |
Settlements: first, highest, lowest and last daily close of the month (the basis used on the 2012 page and the monthly returns heatmap). Intraday: the highest and lowest traded prices in the daily bars.
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 2012: summary
Gold soared 10.98% in January 2012, from $1,565.80 at the end of December 2011 to $1,737.80 an ounce. Gold closed higher on 14 of 20 trading days and lower on 6; the strongest session was 3 January 2012 (+2.17%) and the weakest 13 January 2012 (−1.03%). Settlement prices ranged from $1,599.70 on 3 January 2012 to $1,737.80 on 31 January 2012, a spread of $138.10 (8.8%), wider than the 8.6% average of the previous 12 months.
On the monthly change, January 2012 was the best January since 2001.
How January 2012 compares
- Against other Januaries: at +10.98%, January 2012 ranks 1st of 26 Januaries since 2001 (best first), the best since 2001.
- Against every month: it ranks 5th of 313 months since September 2000, better than 99% of them.
- Range: the gap between the highest and lowest close was $138.10, or 8.8% of the opening level, 1.0× the 8.6% average of the previous 12 months.
- Daily moves: the average day moved 0.82% (up or down), against 0.94% over the previous 12 months, so January 2012 was about as volatile as usual.
- Streaks: the longest run of higher closes was 3 days and the longest run of lower closes 2 days.
- Bigger picture: at the month-end close gold was +30.29% over 12 months (against the January 2011 close of $1,333.80).
- Average price: the mean of the 20 daily closes was $1,660.19; the World Bank's monthly average of the London (LBMA) price was $1,654.00.
Across the other 25 completed Januaries since 2001, gold averaged +2.63% and rose in 16 of them (64%). January 2012 beat that average by 8.4 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 2012 in today's dollars
Adjusted for US consumer-price inflation, the $1,737.80 closing price equals about $2,565 in September 2026 dollars (CPI 227.8 in January 2012 against 336.3 in September 2026, FRED series CPIAUCSL), 48% 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 2012
The gold price in 2012 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 2012?
Gold closed January 2012 at $1,737.80 an ounce (COMEX settlement). It opened the month at $1,599.70 and averaged $1,660.19 across 20 trading days; the World Bank’s London average for the month was $1,654.00.
Did gold go up in January 2012?
Yes. Gold was up 10.98% in January 2012, from $1,565.80 at the end of December 2011 to $1,737.80. It closed higher on 14 of 20 days. Among Januaries since 2001 it ranks 1st of 26 (best first).
What was the highest gold price in January 2012?
The highest close was $1,737.80 on 31 January 2012. The highest intraday price in the daily bars was $1,747.70 on 31 January 2012.
What was the lowest gold price in January 2012?
The lowest close was $1,599.70 on 3 January 2012, $138.10 (8.8%) below the month’s highest close. The lowest intraday price was $1,566.00 on 3 January 2012.
Educational information only, not financial advice and not a forecast. Past prices do not predict future prices. See our risk disclaimer and editorial policy.