Oct 8 (Reuters) - Gold raced past $4,000 an ounce for the first time on Wednesday as investors piled into a record-breaking rally in the safe-haven asset to hedge against global economic uncertainty, while also betting on U.S. interest rate cuts.
Spot gold was up 1.3% at $4,036.22 per ounce by 1154 GMT. U.S. gold futures for December delivery gained 1.3% to $4,058.
Silver also latched on to gold's rally, gaining 2.4% to $48.97 per ounce, and just shy of its all-time high of $49.51.
Traditionally, gold is seen as a store of value during times of instability. Spot gold is up about 54% year-to-date, after gaining 27% in 2024. It is one of the strongest-performing assets of 2025, outpacing advances in global equity markets and bitcoin, while the U.S. dollar and crude oil are down for the year.
The rally has been driven by a cocktail of factors, including expectations of interest rate cuts, ongoing political and economic uncertainty, solid central bank buying, inflows into gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and a weak dollar.
"Background factors are much the same as before, in terms of geopolitical uncertainty, with the added spice of the (U.S.) government shutdown," StoneX analyst Rhona O'Connell said.