Recently, I have been paying attention to the gold market trends and found that gold prices have indeed surged quite sharply during this period. Looking back, the gold price in 2025 skyrocketed by 64.72% for the whole year, setting the strongest annual performance since 1979, when international spot gold prices even broke through the high of $5,600 per ounce.

Gold prices in Malaysia have also risen along with the global trend. According to previous data, 999 pure gold once approached a historical high of around 750 to 800 Malaysian Ringgit per gram, and the prices of 22K and 18K gold have also increased significantly. At that time, gold shops changed their quotes very rapidly, with some even adopting half-day or real-time listing strategies, indicating the market's high volatility.

During that period, gold prices fluctuated dramatically between $5,093 and $5,281 per ounce, and market sentiment was very sensitive. On one hand, many investors holding physical gold sought to cash out at high levels; on the other hand, safe-haven funds continued to buy, all aiming to complete their positions before further price increases.

If you want to trade gold, you need to understand the trading hours. International spot gold is almost traded 24 hours a day, from Monday to Friday. It opens at 7 a.m. Malaysia time on Monday and closes at 6 a.m. on Saturday, with a one-hour settlement break from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. daily. If trading local gold futures contracts, the hours follow the Malaysia Exchange regulations: morning session from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., a break until 2:30 p.m., then the afternoon session from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and after-hours trading from 9 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. the next day, which is the most active period.

Overall, this gold price rally was mainly driven by safe-haven sentiment and geopolitical factors. Investors in gold should closely monitor international developments and Federal Reserve policy movements, as these will directly influence gold price trends.