Gold holds below $4,100 as a two-session rally breaks, but July is its first up month in five

Gold held below $4,100 an ounce on Friday 31 July 2026, surrendering the gains of the preceding two sessions. Readings quoted at different points during the day ranged between roughly $4,060 and $4,090, while the session high was recorded at about $4,111.

Despite the pullback, gold ends July with a gain of about 1.8%, its first monthly advance in five months. Support this month has been attributed to central bank buying, demand around the $4,000 level, and rising geopolitical risk in the closing days of July. Friday's decline also spread to the other precious metals.

The limiting factor is monetary policy expectations: the Federal Reserve left its policy rate unchanged at this week's meeting, but markets are now pricing in roughly a 63% probability of a rate hike at the September meeting, and that expectation is capping gold's upside. Iran's domestic gold and coin market is closed on Friday and is holding Thursday 30 July quotes, so these global moves will be reflected in the Tehran market on Saturday.