Gold price in December 2016: daily prices, high, low and change
Gold closed December 2016 at $1,150.00 an ounce, down 1.78% on the month. The highest close was $1,175.10 on 2 Dec and the lowest $1,127.80 on 15 Dec. Every trading day below, with ranks and context computed from COMEX data.
Gold price chart, December 2016 (daily close and high-low range, US$ per ounce)
Gold line = daily settlement; bars = intraday high to low where available; dashed line = November 2016 close ($1,170.80).
Daily gold prices in December 2016 (21 trading days)
| Date | Open | High | Low | Close | Change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 1 Dec | $1,172.70 | $1,174.60 | $1,160.00 | $1,166.90 | −$3.90 | −0.33% |
| Fri 2 Dec | $1,172.30 | $1,177.30 | $1,166.40 | $1,175.10 | +$8.20 | +0.70% |
| Mon 5 Dec | $1,181.80 | $1,186.70 | $1,157.00 | $1,174.00 | −$1.10 | −0.09% |
| Tue 6 Dec | $1,170.90 | $1,174.50 | $1,167.10 | $1,167.60 | −$6.40 | −0.55% |
| Wed 7 Dec | $1,167.70 | $1,178.50 | $1,166.40 | $1,175.00 | +$7.40 | +0.63% |
| Thu 8 Dec | $1,173.80 | $1,177.80 | $1,169.10 | $1,169.80 | −$5.20 | −0.44% |
| Fri 9 Dec | $1,166.60 | $1,168.80 | $1,156.00 | $1,159.40 | −$10.40 | −0.89% |
| Mon 12 Dec | $1,158.30 | $1,163.90 | $1,153.00 | $1,163.50 | +$4.10 | +0.35% |
| Tue 13 Dec | $1,163.50 | $1,164.00 | $1,155.40 | $1,156.70 | −$6.80 | −0.58% |
| Wed 14 Dec | $1,159.80 | $1,164.00 | $1,142.00 | $1,161.30 | +$4.60 | +0.40% |
| Thu 15 Dec worst day | $1,139.80 | $1,143.30 | $1,123.90 | $1,127.80 | −$33.50 | −2.88% |
| Fri 16 Dec | $1,126.90 | $1,140.90 | $1,126.90 | $1,135.30 | +$7.50 | +0.67% |
| Mon 19 Dec | $1,139.40 | $1,140.70 | $1,137.90 | $1,140.50 | +$5.20 | +0.46% |
| Tue 20 Dec | $1,133.50 | $1,133.50 | $1,126.50 | $1,131.50 | −$9.00 | −0.79% |
| Wed 21 Dec | $1,136.10 | $1,136.10 | $1,130.00 | $1,131.10 | −$0.40 | −0.04% |
| Thu 22 Dec | $1,131.20 | $1,132.80 | $1,128.30 | $1,128.80 | −$2.30 | −0.20% |
| Fri 23 Dec | $1,130.90 | $1,132.80 | $1,130.30 | $1,131.90 | +$3.10 | +0.27% |
| Tue 27 Dec | $1,134.30 | $1,142.20 | $1,134.30 | $1,137.30 | +$5.40 | +0.48% |
| Wed 28 Dec | $1,141.20 | $1,141.20 | $1,138.00 | $1,139.40 | +$2.10 | +0.18% |
| Thu 29 Dec best day | $1,143.80 | $1,158.80 | $1,143.60 | $1,156.40 | +$17.00 | +1.49% |
| Fri 30 Dec | $1,162.00 | $1,162.00 | $1,150.00 | $1,150.00 | −$6.40 | −0.55% |
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
| December 2016 | Open | High | Low | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Settlements | $1,166.90 | $1,175.10 | $1,127.80 | $1,150.00 | −1.78% |
| Intraday | $1,172.70 | $1,186.70 5 Dec | $1,123.90 15 Dec | $1,150.00 | — |
Settlements: first, highest, lowest and last daily close of the month (the basis used on the 2016 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 December 2016: summary
Gold slipped 1.78% in December 2016, settling the month at $1,150.00 an ounce against $1,170.80 at the end of November 2016. Settlement prices ranged from $1,127.80 on 15 December 2016 to $1,175.10 on 2 December 2016, a spread of $47.30 (4.0%), narrower than the 5.9% average of the previous 12 months. Gold closed higher on 10 of 21 trading days and lower on 11; the strongest session was 29 December 2016 (+1.49%) and the weakest 15 December 2016 (−2.88%).
It was gold's 3rd monthly loss in a row.
How December 2016 compares
- Against other Decembers: at −1.78%, December 2016 ranks 20th of 26 Decembers since 2000 (best first).
- Against every month: it ranks 227th of 313 months since September 2000, better than 28% of them.
- Range: the gap between the highest and lowest close was $47.30, or 4.0% of the opening level, 0.7× the 5.9% average of the previous 12 months.
- Daily moves: the average day moved 0.62% (up or down), against 0.75% over the previous 12 months, so December 2016 was calmer than usual.
- Streaks: the longest run of higher closes was 4 days and the longest run of lower closes 3 days.
- Bigger picture: at the month-end close gold was +8.46% for 2016 to the end of December and +8.46% over 12 months (against the December 2015 close of $1,060.30).
- Average price: the mean of the 21 daily closes was $1,151.40; the World Bank's monthly average of the London (LBMA) price was $1,157.00.
Across the other 25 completed Decembers since 2000, gold averaged +1.58% and rose in 17 of them (68%). December 2016 lagged that average by 3.4 percentage points. The gold seasonality tool shows the same statistics for every calendar month, and the monthly returns heatmap lays out all Decembers side by side.
December 2016 in today's dollars
Adjusted for US consumer-price inflation, the $1,150.00 closing price equals about $1,594 in September 2026 dollars (CPI 242.6 in December 2016 against 336.3 in September 2026, FRED series CPIAUCSL), 39% 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 2016
The gold price in 2016 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 December 2016?
Gold closed December 2016 at $1,150.00 an ounce (COMEX settlement). It opened the month at $1,166.90 and averaged $1,151.40 across 21 trading days; the World Bank’s London average for the month was $1,157.00.
Did gold go up in December 2016?
No. Gold was down 1.78% in December 2016, from $1,170.80 at the end of November 2016 to $1,150.00. It closed higher on 10 of 21 days. Among Decembers since 2000 it ranks 20th of 26 (best first).
What was the highest gold price in December 2016?
The highest close was $1,175.10 on 2 December 2016. The highest intraday price in the daily bars was $1,186.70 on 5 December 2016.
What was the lowest gold price in December 2016?
The lowest close was $1,127.80 on 15 December 2016, $47.30 (4.0%) below the month’s highest close. The lowest intraday price was $1,123.90 on 15 December 2016.
Educational information only, not financial advice and not a forecast. Past prices do not predict future prices. See our risk disclaimer and editorial policy.