Gold Heads Closer to $4,000 as US Shutdown Bolsters Haven Demand

Gold Moves Closer to $4,000 on US Shutdown and French Crisis
Gold clinched a fresh record high — pushing closer to $4,000 an ounce — as the US government shutdown and a political crisis in France injected more uncertainty into financial markets.
Bullion rose to $3,977.44 an ounce after surging 1.9% on Monday. The suspension in federal operations that’s now stretching into a second week has deprived investors of key data needed to assess the health of the US economy, while the Federal Reserve struggles to assess changing conditions. Traders are still pricing in a quarter-point rate cut this month, which should benefit gold as it doesn’t pay interest.