Gold prices surged past $3,900 per ounce to a record high on Monday, driven by investors seeking the safe-haven asset amid growing worries over a prolonged US government shutdown. The shutdown was extended into this week after the Senate on Friday failed to advance competing plans to extend federal funding. This has delayed key economic releases, including September’s non-farm payrolls report, leaving investors to rely on alternative indicators that signal a weakening labor market and reinforce expectations of an imminent rate cut. Markets are now pricing in about a 95% probability of a 25bps cut in October and an 84% chance of a similar move in December. Even without fresh data, traders will closely monitor remarks from Federal Reserve officials this week for clues on the US central bank’s rate-cut path. So far this year, bullion has surged almost 50%, spurred by heightened economic and geopolitical uncertainty, expectations of further rate cuts, central bank buying, and ETF inflows.
The BSE Sensex rose 0.7% to close at 81,790 on Monday, its third consecutive gain and hitting its highest level since September 24th, supported by broad-based sectoral advances. Tech shares outperformed, tracking the positive momentum for US counterparts amid the continued bet on AI demand, lastly supported by a fresh partnership between OpenAI and AMD. TCS soared by 3% in the session. while Tech Mahindra and Infosys jumped 2.8% and 2%, respectively. On the data front, final figures showed that India’s private sector grew at the slowest pace in three months in September, amid a moderation in output growth across both manufacturing and services.
