Gold prices hovered around $3,960 per ounce on Tuesday, close to a record high reached earlier in the session, driven by economic uncertainty and expectations of further US rate cuts. The US government shutdown continued into this week, with the White House threatening mass federal worker layoffs. This has also deprived investors of key data needed to assess the health of the US economy, which also complicates the Fed’s decision-making process. Still, traders are pricing in a 25bps cut later this month, with another reduction anticipated in December. At the same time, political shakeups in France and Japan are adding to fiscal concerns and contributing to the rally in gold. The precious metal has climbed 50% so far this year, underpinned by resilient safe-haven demand, expectations of Fed easing, strong central bank purchases, increased ETF inflows, and broad dollar weakness.