An outage at exchange operator CME halted gold futures trading, with prices frozen at $4,221.30 a troy ounce.
“Trading could be more volatile than usual today, as U.S. markets open for a half day and liquidity is likely to be thin,” Kathleen Brooks from XTB said. “Added to this, a disruption on the CME trading exchange, could also affect trading across FX, stocks, commodities and some bonds.”
Gold futures climbed above the $4,200 mark and were on track for a weekly gain of 3.5%, buoyed by expectations that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates further this year.
According to the FedWatch tool, traders are now pricing in a nearly 85% chance of a December cut after dovish comments from policymakers earlier this week.