LONDON — Gold firmed on Friday, rising 0.6% to $3,898.84 an ounce by 9:50 a.m. ET, after a US producer-price reading came in largely in line with expectations and eased bets on a bigger Federal Reserve rate hike — but the metal stayed on track for its worst week since early June after Thursday's slide to a more-than-one-year low.

Source: Reuters via Kitco, Nov 13, 2026

Spot gold briefly touched a session high of $3,922.97 when the Producer Price Index data came out. US gold futures for December delivery were up 0.5% at $3,903.00 an ounce. The PPI for final demand rose 0.3% last month after an upwardly revised 1.4% surge in September; a Reuters poll had forecast a 0.4% climb.

Source: Reuters via Kitco, Nov 13, 2026

Why the week turned so bad for gold

Bullion has shed more than 4% so far this week. Thursday's 3% slide — to the lowest in over a year — came as crude prices climbed after US President Donald Trump said a deal with Iran was not necessary to end the war, dimming hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough and feeding fears that higher energy costs will keep inflation and interest rates elevated. Hotter-than-expected consumer price data earlier in the week added to the pressure, and the US dollar has climbed to a 19-month high.

What traders are pricing now

After the PPI release, markets saw an 89.4% chance of a 25-basis-point US rate hike in December, down from 96.2% before the data — meaning the softer print trimmed, but did not remove, expectations of further tightening. New York Fed President John Williams said on Thursday that more rate hikes are likely as the central bank works to lower high inflation in an otherwise healthy economy. In Europe, most economists polled by Reuters expect the European Central Bank to deliver a final deposit-rate hike of this cycle next month.

Source: Reuters via Kitco, Nov 13, 2026

For Punjabi and Indian households and jewellers who track gold in dollars before converting to rupees, the week underlines how quickly Middle East oil shocks now pass into bullion: an oil spike lifted inflation fears, strengthened the dollar and pulled gold to a one-year low within days, before one softer data print steadied it. What happens next depends on December's Fed decision and on whether the Iran blockade — which Trump said this week he will maintain — keeps energy prices high.