I’ve been keeping a close eye on the gold market lately and found that Malaysia’s gold prices hit a new high again today. I checked the quote for 916 gold—it's basically around more than 670 ringgit per gram. As for 999 fine gold, it’s even approaching about 750 ringgit. The increase is definitely pretty aggressive. From last year to now, gold prices have gone through the strongest upward cycle in nearly a decade, and throughout 2025 alone they have surged by 64.72%. International spot gold prices even broke through the $5,600 mark, and are now staying at high levels around $5,000-plus.

This run-up is mainly driven by risk-aversion sentiment and geopolitical developments. I noticed that this week, gold prices have been swinging back and forth between $5,093 and $5,281, with particularly intense volatility. In Malaysia, gold shops are adjusting prices quickly in line with international gold prices—some even change their prices several times a day. On one side, investors who want to realize profits are queuing up to sell gold; on the other side, large funds are still adding positions to hedge, and the two forces are in a standoff.

If you want to trade international spot gold XAUUSD, the trading hours are basically nearly 24 hours from Monday to Friday. In Malaysia time, the market opens at 7 a.m. on Monday and closes at 6 a.m. on Saturday. There is a 1-hour settlement break in between. If you’re trading local gold futures FGLD, you need to follow the Kuala Lumpur Exchange schedule: the most active periods are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and from 9:00 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.

With gold prices this high now, let’s see how the US-Iran situation and Federal Reserve policy developments unfold. Today’s gold price movement still needs to be closely monitored for these factors.