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On this day — August 18, 2020
Tuesday — a normal trading day. Tuesday is also when the CFTC publishes Commitments of Traders data for the prior week, often producing intraday movement.
Day 231 of 366 · Q3 2020 · 63.1% through the year
August 2020 gold market: All-time high near $2,075 — then a sharp reversal
VolatileA record high followed by one of the year's sharpest drops.
Gold made history on August 7, hitting an all-time high around $2,075 per ounce. The euphoria was short-lived: a rebound in real yields and a firmer dollar triggered a swift correction back toward $1,930. August marked the peak of gold's COVID-era bull run.
August's top had all the hallmarks of a blow-off: a near-vertical final push, breathless media coverage, and record speculative positioning. The trigger for the reversal was subtle but decisive — a bounce in real (inflation-adjusted) yields off their lows. Because gold's entire 2020 case rested on collapsing real yields, even a modest rebound was enough to knock the metal down over $100 in days. The $2,075 high would then cap gold for more than three years, not broken decisively until 2024.
What drove gold in August 2020
- record-low real yields driving the blow-off top
- subsequent rebound in real yields
- firmer US dollar
- profit-taking after a parabolic move
Key events in August 2020
- Aug 7Gold sets an all-time high near $2,075/oz
- Aug 11Sharpest one-day drop in years as yields rebound
What happened next
The $2,075 peak became a multi-year ceiling that gold did not decisively break until 2024.
For gold buyers
August was a textbook blow-off: the record high near $2,075 became a ceiling that capped gold for years, punishing top-buyers.
Key terms this month
- Blow-off top:
- A steep, climactic price surge that quickly reverses as buying exhausts itself.
- All-time high:
- The highest price an asset has ever reached; gold's stood near $2,075 from August 2020 until 2024.
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