According to the Korea Gold Exchange on October 3, 2026, the price of pure gold (24K, 3.75g) stood at 787,000 won for purchase and 676,000 won for sale. The purchase price of pure gold fell 1.14%, or 9,000 won, while the selling price dropped 1.78%, or 12,000 won.

The selling price of 18K gold fell 1.77% (8,800 won) to 496,900 won, and the selling price of 14K gold declined 1.76% (6,800 won) to 385,400 won. Platinum (3.75g) was recorded at 320,000 won for purchase and 259,000 won for sale, falling 6,000 won (1.88%) on the buying side and 6,000 won (2.32%) on the selling side. Silver (3.75g) was priced at 10,960 won for purchase and 9,120 won for sale, down 1.46% (160 won) and 1.43% (130 won), respectively.

■ Gold and Interest Rates: What History Tells Us

Meanwhile, attention is also focused on the direction of U.S. interest rates. Understanding the relationship between gold and interest rates requires going back to the 1970s. The U.S. economy in the 1970s suffered from two oil shocks and high inflation. As prices rose rapidly and anxiety over the dollar's value grew, funds flooded into gold, a tangible asset. In particular, as U.S. inflation intensified in the late 1970s, gold emerged as the representative asset for hedging against inflation.

The situation at the time partially resembles the present. From 1978, U.S. inflation pressure expanded again, and the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate from 6.9% in April 1978 to 10% by the end of that year. However, the rise in prices was not easily contained, and the U.S. 12-month consumer inflation rate climbed to around 9% by the end of 1979.

The decisive change came when Paul Volcker took office as Fed Chair. From 1979, Volcker made curbing inflation the top priority of monetary policy. As aggressive tightening policies followed, the federal funds rate surged to as high as 20% at the end of 1980. U.S. long-term rates rose in tandem, with the 10-year Treasury yield climbing from about 11% in October 1980 to over 15% a year later.

This process also became a major turning point for the gold market. Gold, which had soared amid inflation fears, found it difficult to maintain its previous upward momentum as the United States began to contain prices while tolerating high interest rates. This period is regarded as a representative era demonstrating how significant real interest rates and monetary policy are to the gold market.

■ The 2008 Financial Crisis and COVID-19 in 2020

Another turning point for gold was the 2008 global financial crisis. In the early stages of the crisis, asset sales to secure cash caused gold prices to waver as well. According to the World Gold Council, the price of gold rose to $1,002.95 per ounce in March 2008 before falling to $712.30 in November of the same year, after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

However, the trend subsequently changed completely. As the Federal Reserve and other major central banks launched large-scale quantitative easing and cut benchmark rates, gold prices began to rise again. With expanding money supply coinciding with anxiety about the financial system, gold once again drew attention as a safe asset. Gold prices eventually approached $1,900 per ounce in September 2011, rising to what was then an all-time high. At the time, the U.S. credit rating downgrade, the European fiscal crisis, and inflation concerns simultaneously stimulated gold demand.

A similar trend emerged after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. As countries around the world engaged in large-scale fiscal spending and monetary easing, gold prices showed a record-breaking rally. Subsequently, as the United States pursued aggressive rate hikes to tame inflation, gold came under pressure from high interest rates and a strong dollar for a period of time.

■ Central Bank Purchases Reshaping the Gold Market Structure

However, a somewhat different structure has recently formed in the gold market. A representative change is central banks' gold purchases. According to the World Gold Council, global central banks net-purchased approximately 1,045 tons of gold in 2024 alone. This marked the third consecutive year that annual central bank gold purchases exceeded 1,000 tons. In 2025, central banks net-purchased 863 tons of gold. Although smaller in scale than 2022-2024, this remains historically high.

According to the World Gold Council, total gold demand in 2025, including over-the-counter transactions, exceeded 5,000 tons for the first time, and gold prices set new record highs 53 times over the course of the year. These supply and demand changes make it difficult to simply compare the current gold market to past interest rate cycles.

Typically, rising U.S. Treasury yields are unfavorable for gold. Because gold pays no interest, higher Treasury yields increase the opportunity cost of holding gold. Yet even with the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield soaring to 5.34%, gold prices are holding at around $4,177 per ounce. While U.S. long-term rates have climbed to their highest levels since 2002, the gold market is simultaneously being driven by central bank purchases, geopolitical uncertainty, and inflation hedging demand.

■ The Two Faces of Inflation: The Oil Price Variable

Rising international oil prices have also emerged as a variable. Higher energy prices stoke concerns about renewed inflation, which could push up Treasury yields. Conversely, inflation concerns themselves can enhance gold's appeal as a tangible asset. From gold's perspective, the same inflation generates forces pulling in opposite directions. Higher inflation may increase gold's appeal as a store of value, but if the Fed raises rates further to contain it, this becomes a burden for gold.

What the gold market of the late 1970s and early 1980s demonstrated was precisely this tug-of-war between interest rates and prices. What makes the current market different from that era is that the share of central banks—major buyers—in the gold market has grown substantially. With large-scale central bank gold purchases continuing in 2024 and 2025, gold is becoming an asset that is difficult to explain by U.S. interest rates alone. Movements to diversify foreign reserves in order to reduce dependence on dollar assets are also cited as one of the factors supporting gold demand.

■ Gold Price Outlook: The 'Reason' Matters More Than the Rate Level

Ultimately, the history of the gold market shows that it is not a simple structure in which high interest rates necessarily cause gold prices to fall and low rates automatically cause them to rise. In the 1970s, inflation fears drove gold up, and in the early 1980s, the Volcker Fed's ultra-high rates changed the market's direction. After the 2008 financial crisis, low rates and quantitative easing pulled gold prices up again, and recently, structural central bank purchases have emerged as a new variable.

With gold prices currently above $4,100 per ounce, U.S. interest rates are once again being put to the test. With the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield exceeding 5% and having risen to as high as 5.34%, continued rate increases could place growing pressure on gold prices. Conversely, if U.S. employment and prices slow, weakening prospects for further Fed tightening, investment demand could flow back into a gold market that has withstood high rates.

Looking back at half a century of gold market trends, what ultimately matters is not the level of interest rates itself, but rather why rates are moving. With inflation, the economy, the dollar's value, central bank policies, and gold purchase demand all shifting simultaneously, the gold market has once again entered a showdown with U.S. interest rates.

[※ This article is for investment reference purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. All investments are made at the individual's own discretion, and the final responsibility for buying and selling rests with the investor.]