Gold price in May 2021: daily prices, high, low and change
Gold closed May 2021 at $1,902.50 an ounce, up 7.63% on the month. The highest close was $1,902.50 on 28 May and the lowest $1,776.00 on 4 May. Every trading day below, with ranks and context computed from COMEX data.
Gold price chart, May 2021 (daily close and high-low range, US$ per ounce)
Gold line = daily settlement; bars = intraday high to low where available; dashed line = April 2021 close ($1,767.70).
Daily gold prices in May 2021 (20 trading days)
| Date | Open | High | Low | Close | Change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 3 May | $1,768.10 | $1,798.90 | $1,765.60 | $1,791.80 | +$24.10 | +1.36% |
| Tue 4 May worst day | $1,793.20 | $1,799.50 | $1,769.20 | $1,776.00 | −$15.80 | −0.88% |
| Wed 5 May | $1,778.40 | $1,788.10 | $1,769.30 | $1,784.30 | +$8.30 | +0.47% |
| Thu 6 May best day | $1,787.00 | $1,818.60 | $1,781.80 | $1,815.70 | +$31.40 | +1.76% |
| Fri 7 May | $1,815.40 | $1,844.60 | $1,813.40 | $1,831.30 | +$15.60 | +0.86% |
| Mon 10 May | $1,835.40 | $1,846.30 | $1,830.50 | $1,837.60 | +$6.30 | +0.34% |
| Tue 11 May | $1,836.20 | $1,842.50 | $1,817.80 | $1,836.10 | −$1.50 | −0.08% |
| Wed 12 May | $1,838.20 | $1,844.70 | $1,813.00 | $1,822.80 | −$13.30 | −0.72% |
| Thu 13 May | $1,816.20 | $1,829.10 | $1,808.40 | $1,824.00 | +$1.20 | +0.07% |
| Fri 14 May | $1,826.40 | $1,847.10 | $1,819.00 | $1,838.10 | +$14.10 | +0.77% |
| Mon 17 May | $1,845.90 | $1,869.30 | $1,841.10 | $1,867.60 | +$29.50 | +1.60% |
| Tue 18 May | $1,867.30 | $1,875.90 | $1,863.50 | $1,868.00 | +$0.40 | +0.02% |
| Wed 19 May | $1,870.20 | $1,891.30 | $1,852.20 | $1,881.50 | +$13.50 | +0.72% |
| Thu 20 May | $1,869.90 | $1,885.30 | $1,864.20 | $1,881.90 | +$0.40 | +0.02% |
| Fri 21 May | $1,878.10 | $1,890.30 | $1,870.30 | $1,876.70 | −$5.20 | −0.28% |
| Mon 24 May | $1,883.50 | $1,887.90 | $1,875.70 | $1,884.50 | +$7.80 | +0.42% |
| Tue 25 May | $1,881.20 | $1,901.20 | $1,873.20 | $1,898.00 | +$13.50 | +0.72% |
| Wed 26 May | $1,900.00 | $1,913.30 | $1,890.70 | $1,901.20 | +$3.20 | +0.17% |
| Thu 27 May | $1,896.80 | $1,903.90 | $1,888.20 | $1,895.70 | −$5.50 | −0.29% |
| Fri 28 May | $1,897.50 | $1,905.40 | $1,881.90 | $1,902.50 | +$6.80 | +0.36% |
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
| May 2021 | Open | High | Low | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Settlements | $1,791.80 | $1,902.50 | $1,776.00 | $1,902.50 | +7.63% |
| Intraday | $1,768.10 | $1,913.30 26 May | $1,765.60 3 May | $1,902.50 | — |
Settlements: first, highest, lowest and last daily close of the month (the basis used on the 2021 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 May 2021: summary
Gold soared 7.63% in May 2021, settling the month at $1,902.50 an ounce against $1,767.70 at the end of April 2021. Settlement prices ranged from $1,776.00 on 4 May 2021 to $1,902.50 on 28 May 2021, a spread of $126.50 (7.2%), wider than the 6.1% average of the previous 12 months. Gold closed higher on 15 of 20 trading days and lower on 5; the strongest session was 6 May 2021 (+1.76%) and the weakest 4 May 2021 (−0.88%).
On the monthly change, May 2021 was the 2nd-best May of the 26 since 2001.
How May 2021 compares
- Against other Mays: at +7.63%, May 2021 ranks 2nd of 26 Mays since 2001 (best first).
- Against every month: it ranks 27th of 313 months since September 2000, better than 92% of them.
- Range: the gap between the highest and lowest close was $126.50, or 7.2% of the opening level, 1.2× the 6.1% average of the previous 12 months.
- Daily moves: the average day moved 0.60% (up or down), against 0.83% over the previous 12 months, so May 2021 was calmer than usual.
- Streaks: the longest run of higher closes was 6 days and the longest run of lower closes 2 days.
- Bigger picture: at the month-end close gold was +0.39% for 2021 to the end of May and +8.61% over 12 months (against the May 2020 close of $1,751.70).
- Average price: the mean of the 20 daily closes was $1,850.76; the World Bank's monthly average of the London (LBMA) price was $1,850.00.
Across the other 25 completed Mays since 2001, gold averaged −0.02% and rose in 12 of them (48%). May 2021 beat that average by 7.6 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 2021 in today's dollars
Adjusted for US consumer-price inflation, the $1,902.50 closing price equals about $2,384 in September 2026 dollars (CPI 268.4 in May 2021 against 336.3 in September 2026, FRED series CPIAUCSL), 25% 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 2021
The gold price in 2021 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 2021?
Gold closed May 2021 at $1,902.50 an ounce (COMEX settlement). It opened the month at $1,791.80 and averaged $1,850.76 across 20 trading days; the World Bank’s London average for the month was $1,850.00.
Did gold go up in May 2021?
Yes. Gold was up 7.63% in May 2021, from $1,767.70 at the end of April 2021 to $1,902.50. It closed higher on 15 of 20 days. Among Mays since 2001 it ranks 2nd of 26 (best first).
What was the highest gold price in May 2021?
The highest close was $1,902.50 on 28 May 2021. The highest intraday price in the daily bars was $1,913.30 on 26 May 2021.
What was the lowest gold price in May 2021?
The lowest close was $1,776.00 on 4 May 2021, $126.50 (7.2%) below the month’s highest close. The lowest intraday price was $1,765.60 on 3 May 2021.
Educational information only, not financial advice and not a forecast. Past prices do not predict future prices. See our risk disclaimer and editorial policy.