Gold is making headlines again. After falling back for a bit, prices are now up sharply. The reason? Moody’s just downgraded the US government’s credit rating. That news hit late Friday, and by Monday morning, gold was already on the move.

Spot gold jumped 1 percent to around $3,233 an ounce. At one point, it even climbed as high as 1.4 percent. US gold futures also went up, rising 1.5 percent in New York. It’s a big rebound, and it’s got investors paying attention again.

Here’s the short version of what happened. Moody’s said the US budget deficit is getting out of hand, so they cut the country’s top-tier credit rating from Aaa to Aa1. That’s a serious warning. When credit ratings drop, it makes the dollar look weak. And when the dollar drops, gold starts to shine.

The US dollar index slid 0.8 percent on Monday. Treasury yields moved, the stock market softened, and people started looking for safer places to park their money. That’s why gold is suddenly the star again.

Playing Safe With Gold

Analysts say the downgrade is the biggest reason behind the gold rally. But there’s more going on too. Over the weekend, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that tariffs could come back for countries that don’t play fair in trade talks. That kind of uncertainty always makes investors nervous. When they get nervous, gold benefits.

There’s also trouble brewing in China. Their latest economic numbers weren’t strong, and that’s made the global market even shakier. All of this is pushing gold higher as people try to protect their money.

Experts say we could see short-term ups and downs in gold, depending on the news. But the long-term outlook is still solid. Many believe gold is just getting started this year.

In fact, gold is already one of the best-performing assets of 2025. It’s up 23 percent so far and even crossed $3,500 an ounce last month for the first time ever.

Big banks are staying bullish. JPMorgan expects gold to hit $3,675 by the end of the year and possibly $4,000 by early 2026. Goldman Sachs is backing that view too.

Bottom line, gold is making a strong comeback. And with all the uncertainty in the market, it looks like it could stay in the spotlight for a while.