Gold rises 0.4% to $4,141.28 as oil climbs and US inflation accelerates
Key Facts
Spot gold rose 0.4% to $4,141.28 an ounce on Wednesday, October 21, according to an update published by Investing, as oil climbed ahead of the US Federal Reserve's upcoming October meeting. The metal's gain followed a decline in the previous session, as US consumer and producer price increases accelerated in September. Spot gold had fallen 0.4% to $4,122.41 an ounce on Tuesday, October 20, according to the same platform. Tuesday's price was recorded at 19:31 GMT, before the recovery reported in Wednesday's update. In the oil market, Brent crude settled 1.1% higher at $109.96 a barrel on Wednesday, according to Investing.
In Saudi Arabia, air defenses intercepted a drone on Wednesday morning that attempted to target a processing plant at Aramco's Shaybah oilfield, according to an Energy Ministry source cited by Asharq News. The source said the fire occurred outside the plant's perimeter, confirming that the incident did not affect operations. Describing the fire's location and impact, the source said it occurred "outside the plant's perimeter, with no impact on operations." In a separate incident on Wednesday evening, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam came under attack, injuring 8 people, the Associated Press reported, citing the civil aviation authority. The authority also reported property damage at the airport from the attack. On the diplomatic front, the US State Department on Wednesday ordered non-essential staff to leave the US embassy in Riyadh and its consulates, according to the agency.
These developments come against a backdrop of accelerating US inflation, with the consumer price index rising a seasonally adjusted 0.6% month on month in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index had posted a monthly increase of 0.4% in August before the pace picked up the following month. Gasoline played a prominent role in September's increase, with prices rising 9.1% during the month, according to the bureau. That jump accounted for more than half of the monthly increase in the overall consumer price index. At the producer level, final demand prices rose 6.3% year on year in September, the largest increase since December 2022. In a broader assessment of economic risks, S&P Global warned of energy and food price pressures fueled by disruptions linked to conflicts and weather. The firm said these pressures "threaten to complicate the economic outlook."
On monetary policy, the Federal Reserve raised its target interest rate range by a quarter of a percentage point in its previous decision in September, according to the US central bank's statement. The decision brought the range to 3.75%–4%, the level approved by the committee at that meeting. In a speech in October, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he expected additional rate increases if the data continued to evolve as anticipated. Waller linked those increases to supporting an earlier return of inflation to the central bank's target, saying: "I expect additional increases to support an earlier return of inflation to our 2% target." But he also pointed to flexibility in the timing of those increases, adding: "But there is some flexibility."
On the upcoming release calendar, S&P Global set October 23 for publication of its October flash purchasing managers' indexes. That will be followed by the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on October 27–28, 2026, according to the schedule in the September meeting minutes. The minutes specified that the next meeting would take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. After the Fed meeting, the US personal income and outlays report will be released on October 29, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis calendar. The report covers September 2026 data, and the bureau's calendar lists its release time as 8:30 a.m.