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Gold prices rose further Tuesday to hit their highest level in nearly three weeks, helped by growing expectations of another U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December and signs of an end to the U.S. government shutdown.

Spot gold was up 0.4% at $4,131.32 per ounce, as of 0636 GMT, hitting its highest since October 23. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.4% to $4,137.50 per ounce.

The U.S. Senate passed a deal on Monday that would restore federal funding and end the longest government shutdown.

Key economic indicators such as the non-farm payrolls report have been delayed due to the shutdown. A government reopening in the coming days will offer more clarity on the U.S. economic outlook and the Fed’s interest rate path.

“The idea that the shutdown is ending was really more met as lifting a level of uncertainty that gave markets permission to reengage with what has been one of the main speculative narratives this year,” said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive.

“The bias for the rest of the year is at this point favouring the upside still. At this point, the path of least resistance for gold is back to October’s high, and then we might be heading higher thereafter.”

Last week, data showed the U.S. economy shed jobs in October amid losses in the government and retail sectors.

U.S. consumer sentiment weakened to a 3-1/2-year low in early November amid worries about the economic fallout from the shutdown, a survey showed on Friday.

Traders are pricing in a roughly 64% probability that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points next month, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Fed Governor Stephen Miran said on Monday a 50-bp rate cut would be appropriate for December, noting that inflation is falling while the unemployment rate is drifting higher.

Non-yielding gold tends to do well in a low-interest-rate environment and during economic uncertainties.

Elsewhere, spot silver gained 0.8% to $50.94 per ounce, platinum rose 0.4% to $1,584.40 and palladium climbed 1.4% to $1,435.43.

Investors piled back into artificial intelligence names on Monday stateside. Shares of Nvidia jumped 5.8%, Broadcom advanced 2.6% and Microsoft climbed 1.9% to end its eight-day losing streak, its longest consecutive decline since 2011.

Market watchers are hoping that another historically long streak — the U.S. government shutdown — could soon be snapped as well. The U.S. Senate has voted in favor for a deal to reopen the government, though it still has to pass through the House and then be signed into law by President Donald Trump (who has already given it his approval).

That's not to say worries about AI's high valuations have gone away completely.

CoreWeave on Monday reported its third-quarter earnings. It rents out Nvidia cards to AI-related firms, such as Google and Microsoft, a business model that ties it intimately to the AI trade. The company's revenue swelled 134% year on year, but it still reported a net loss and gave lower-than-expected guidance for this year.

The general shape of those figures — high revenue and high losses — broadly reminds one of OpenAI, the industry-leading, money-bleeding startup that kickstarted the AI frenzy. Though it would of course be a stretch to equate the two companies and the factors driving their finances.

Still, Mark Haefele, CIO of UBS's global wealth management, thinks "AI-related stocks should drive equity markets." With the U.S. government shutdown in sight to end (hopefully this doesn't jinx it), that's another obstacle surpassed for markets.

Russia is late to the party, but it's still preparing to enter the rare earths fray

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week ordered his officials to complete a road map by Dec.1 "for the long-term development of the extraction and production of rare and rare earth metals."

Moscow has fallen behind peers like China when it comes to the exploitation of its deposits of rare earth elements. While lagging behind the big players, Russia is still estimated to possess the fifth largest known reserves of rare earths, totaling 3.8 million tonnes, the United States Geological Survey stated. That's above the U.S. which is seen with 1.9 million tonnes.

— Holly Ellyatt

Japanese giant SoftBank said Tuesday it has sold its entire stake in tech giant Nvidia for $5.83 billion.

The firm said in its earning statement that it sold 32.1 million shares of Nvidia in October. It also sold off part of its stake in T-Mobile for $9.17 billion.

SoftBank’s investments in ChatGPT maker OpenAI and PayPay helped the Japanese giant post a $19 billion gain on its Vision Fund in its fiscal second quarter.

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