I recently took a look at the gold market, and the 916 gold price has been rising quite strongly lately. Not long ago, the spot gold price surged to around $5,600, and in Malaysia the retail price of 916 gold also jumped sharply—some gold shops are quoting nearly 750 ringgit per gram.

I noticed that gold shops’ pricing strategies have changed: many have moved to pricing every half day or posting live quotes. This suggests that gold price fluctuations are indeed too fast. This week, gold prices have been wildly fluctuating mainly between $5,093 and $5,281. Supported by safe-haven sentiment and inflation pressure, the overall picture still remains bullish. What’s interesting is that on one side, investors holding physical gold are rushing to cash out, while on the other side, large funds are pushing through and continuing to buy gold bars at elevated levels as a hedge.

If you want to keep track of the 916 gold price, there are a few factors to watch. First is the geopolitical situation, which directly affects safe-haven demand. Second is U.S. labor market data, which is related to whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next. For trading in Malaysia, FGLD futures are traded on the local exchange from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., but the most active period is after-hours trading until 2:30 a.m., which lines up with fluctuations in the New York market. If you trade spot gold XAUUSD, it’s basically close to 24-hour trading: the market opens at 7:00 a.m. on Monday and closes at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Overall, this year’s gold price performance has indeed been strong. In the long run, it’s still worth paying attention to as an asset allocation option, but given how big the short-term swings are, you should remain cautious when trading.