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Daily gold digest

Gold News, 25 October 2026: 7 stories moving XAUUSD

Gold finished Friday just under $4,000 after a weekly drop of about 4%, and the weekend data show who sold and who bought. Speculators cut their futures longs and the biggest US gold ETF saw heavy redemptions, while central banks in Poland and China kept adding and Chinese shoppers crowded jewellery markets. Fed week starts with Iran warning Washington against new strikes.

Gold ends its worst week since June as funds trim longs and China's buyers move in

01
Price action

Gold closes its worst week since June near $3,996, with $3,946 and $4,075 as the levels to watch

A Sunday Fed-week preview from FinanceFeeds puts spot gold’s Friday close near $3,996, its first weekly close below $4,000 since mid-July, after a weekly fall of about 4%, which Reuters called the worst week since June. December futures settled 1.3% lower at $4,007.90. The piece lists Kitco resistance at $4,075 and support at $3,963 and then $3,946, with a daily RSI of 33.2. Spot silver fell to $53.97, its lowest since November 2025, while platinum and palladium hit multi-month lows.

Why it matters for gold:

These are the levels many short-term traders will start Fed week with, and an RSI near 30 shows how stretched the move already is. Our lesson on support and resistance for XAUUSD explains how to treat round numbers like $4,000, and the glossary covers RSI.

Source: FinanceFeeds

02
Positioning

Speculators cut their gold net long by about 8,000 contracts in the latest COT data

FXStreet’s weekly COT summary, based on CFTC data for the week to October 20, shows non-commercial traders net long 199,865 COMEX gold contracts, down 8,014 on the week, while commercials trimmed their net short by 6,949 to 235,582. Open interest rose about 1% to 402,279 contracts, and the COT index for gold sits at 47%, labelled ‘net long, weakening’. In silver, speculators cut their net long by 2,836 to 19,795 contracts.

Why it matters for gold:

Funds are still long gold, but less so each week, which leaves room for more selling if Wednesday’s Fed meeting sounds hawkish, and for short-covering if it doesn’t. Our guide on how to read the COT report for gold explains each trader group, and the gold COT tool charts the history.

Source: FXStreet

03
ETF flows

The largest US gold ETF sheds about $2.3 billion in a week as smaller gold funds take in money

ETF Action’s weekly flow report shows precious-metals ETFs lost about $1.71 billion in the five days to October 23, with SPDR Gold Shares alone redeeming about $2.30 billion. Lower-cost gold funds went the other way: the SPDR Gold MiniShares took in about $288 million and the iShares Gold Trust Micro about $252 million, which the report reads as investors switching within gold rather than leaving it. Over 90 days, the precious-metals group still shows inflows of about $11.8 billion.

Why it matters for gold:

ETF flows show whether long-term investors are backing a move, and a big redemption from the most-traded fund often reflects short-term and institutional selling. The glossary explains how a gold ETF holds metal, and our article on why gold is down in 2026 puts the flows in context.

Source: ETF Action

04
Central banks

Russia and Kazakhstan sell gold while Poland and China keep buying, Euronews reports

Euronews reports that Russia’s central bank cut its gold reserves by about 6.2 tonnes in September, about 62 tonnes since January, a pace it says is matched in modern Russian history only by 1998. Kazakhstan, among the biggest buyers earlier this year, plans to lower gold’s share of its reserves from about 78% to 75% by year-end. Poland is close to its 700-tonne target, and a Polish bullion dealer quoted in the piece says China’s central bank is the main buyer of Russian gold sold through Hong Kong.

Why it matters for gold:

Official buying has been one of gold’s main supports, so it matters that some central banks are now selling while others keep adding. Our explainer on central bank gold buying covers who buys and why, and the glossary defines central bank buying.

Source: Euronews

05
Physical demand

Shenzhen's gold market is packed as Chinese jewellery prices fall about 100 yuan a gram in a month

The Global Times reports crowds at Shenzhen’s Shuibei jewellery market over the weekend after spot gold closed Friday at $3,995.63. Major brands priced pure-gold jewellery at 1,196 to 1,202 yuan per gram on Saturday, down 6 to 12 yuan on the day and about 100 yuan below the roughly 1,300 yuan of late September. The paper also notes that the People’s Bank of China reported 77.47 million ounces of gold at the end of September, up 740,000 ounces, its 23rd straight monthly increase.

Why it matters for gold:

Strong dip-buying in China can help put a floor under prices when Western investors are selling. Our China gold price page shows the local rate, and the glossary explains the difference between paper and physical gold.

Source: Global Times

06
Geopolitics

Iran warns of a major response to any new US strike after Trump says action could come as soon as Sunday

Middle East Eye reports that Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned any new military action would bring a major response, a day after President Trump said the US could strike Iran as soon as Sunday or reach a ‘big, beautiful’ agreement. Iran’s army said on Sunday that its air defences shot down a US drone over Bandar Abbas, near the Strait of Hormuz. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said shipping and management of the strait would not return to their pre-war state.

Why it matters for gold:

The open threat of US strikes is a step beyond last week’s tanker attacks, and it raises the chance of a gap when markets reopen. Gold has fallen on oil-driven rate fears this month, so read our guide to gold and oil prices and the glossary entry on the weekend gap.

Source: Middle East Eye

07
Sentiment

Kitco survey: Wall Street leans bearish on gold for Fed week while Main Street stays mildly bullish

Kitco’s weekly survey, released late on Friday, found 7 of 17 Wall Street analysts (41%) expect lower gold prices next week, 4 (24%) expect higher prices and 6 (35%) see sideways trade. In the online poll of 161 retail traders, 42% expect gains, 26% losses and 33% consolidation. Marc Chandler of Bannockburn Global Forex noted that momentum indicators are not rising and the 5- and 20-day moving averages are falling, while Adrian Day still expects $4,000 to roughly hold.

Why it matters for gold:

Surveys are best used as a gauge of crowd mood, not a forecast; when professionals turn bearish after a big drop, part of the bad news is often already priced in. Our 28 October FOMC preview covers the event that will settle the debate, and how to trade gold on Fed day sets out a plan.

Source: Kitco

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Summaries are written by XAUUSD Global from the linked sources. Educational content only, not financial advice.