Gold Tops $4,596 for a Third Straight Weekly Gain as Silver and Platinum Jump Too

Gold rose to $4,596.90 an ounce on Friday, 30 Mordad 1405 (August 21, 2026), up 1.80 percent from the previous day and on course for a third straight weekly gain, according to Trading Economics, which put gold's monthly gain at 11.29 percent and its year-on-year gain at 36.28 percent. Silver climbed to $69.71 an ounce (up 2.40 percent on the day, about 5 percent for the week) and platinum topped $1,896. Iran's TGJU price network recorded spot gold at $4,598.57 (up 1.73 percent) and silver at $69.94 (up 2.66 percent) around the same hours, figures consistent with Trading Economics.\n\nKitco News quoted ByteTree CIO and founder Charlie Morris identifying the main driver as the US Treasury's plan, announced by Secretary Scott Bessent, to at least double its long-dated debt buyback rate, which he described as effectively a form of quantitative easing. Morris said the world's total above-ground gold supply is now worth about 77 percent of US debt, which recently hit $40 trillion, a ratio that has topped 100 percent several times in the past. Trading Economics added that rising oil prices, as the US prepares sweeping new sanctions against Iran amid a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, are underscoring inflation risk, while continued central bank buying, particularly by China, is also supporting gold.