Gold up 30.65% year-on-year despite a brutal April-to-June round trip

Gold traded at $4,334 per troy ounce on August 18, 2026, up 30.65% year-on-year, per Trading Economics. The path was anything but linear: prices slid from $4,734 in April below $4,000 in June — a fourth straight monthly decline on persistent Fed rate-hike bets, Reuters reported — before rebounding above $4,300 by August on a softer dollar and receding hike expectations.