Spot Gold Price Today (XAU/USD)
The spot gold price is the price for one troy ounce of pure gold for immediate delivery, quoted in US dollars as XAU/USD. The table below streams it live, along with the spot equivalent per gram and per kilogram. Coins, bars and jewellery always sell above spot because dealers add a premium.
Spot gold price now
| Weight & purity | Live price |
|---|---|
| Spot gold · 1 troy ounce (XAU/USD) | live |
| Spot gold · 1 troy ounce in euros | live |
| Spot gold · 1 troy ounce in pounds | live |
| Spot gold · 1 gram (USD) | live |
| Spot gold · 1 kilogram (USD) | live |
International spot equivalents for pure (24K) gold, with no dealer premium, tax or making charge. Karat rows = 24K price × purity. How we calculate
What "spot" means in the gold market
A spot trade is settled almost immediately, conventionally two business days after the deal, rather than at a date months away. The spot gold price is therefore the market value of gold you could own right now. It is quoted per troy ounce (31.1035 grams) of metal at least 99.5% pure, the standard for London Good Delivery bars, and almost always in US dollars.
The ticker XAU/USD follows the ISO currency-code convention: XAU is the code for one troy ounce of gold, just as EUR is the code for one euro. So XAU/USD = 4,150 means one ounce costs 4,150 dollars, and XAU/EUR gives the same ounce priced in euros.
Bid, ask and the spread
Every spot quote has two sides. The bid is what dealers will pay you for gold; the ask (or offer) is what they will sell it for. The figure you see on most websites, including the table above, is the last traded price or the mid-point between the two.
Suppose a screen shows 4,149.60 bid and 4,150.10 ask. The spread is $0.50 an ounce, about 0.01%. That tight spread exists only between banks and large dealers trading 400-ounce bars. When you buy a one-ounce coin, the dealer's spread is many times wider, which is why the coin price is always above spot.
Spot vs futures vs retail price
| Price | What it is | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Spot (XAU/USD) | Price for near-immediate delivery of wholesale gold | Banks, dealers, price websites |
| Futures (COMEX GC) | Price agreed today for delivery on a set future date | Traders, hedgers, funds |
| LBMA Gold Price | Benchmark set twice daily in London | Contracts, central banks, ETFs, valuations |
| Retail | Spot plus premium, plus local tax or duty | Coin, bar and jewellery buyers |
The front-month gold futures contract normally trades a little above spot, because the seller of a futures contract has to finance and store the gold until delivery. That gap (contango) shrinks to almost nothing as the contract approaches expiry. Many charts labelled "gold" actually show futures, so a few dollars of difference from the spot table is normal.
The LBMA Gold Price
Spot changes every second, which is impractical for contracts that need one agreed number. The LBMA Gold Price fills that role. It is set twice each London business day, at 10:30 and 15:00 London time, in an electronic auction run by ICE Benchmark Administration, where participants submit buy and sell orders until they balance. Mining royalties, jewellery supply contracts and many fund valuations reference it. It replaced the old telephone-based "London gold fix" in 2015.
When spot gold trades
Spot gold is traded over the counter around the world, so there is no single exchange closing bell. The market runs almost 24 hours from Sunday evening to Friday evening, New York time, with a short daily pause. Liquidity moves from Sydney and Tokyo to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore, then London and finally New York, where COMEX futures and US data releases make the afternoon the busiest period. The live gold price page covers those sessions in detail. On weekends quotes freeze at Friday's close.
From spot to the price you pay
Every local rate on this site starts from spot. Divide by 31.1035 for the price per gram, multiply by purity for karat gold, convert currency, then add local costs. With an illustrative spot price of $4,150:
- 1 gram of 24K gold = 4,150 ÷ 31.1035 = $133.43
- 1 gram of 22K gold = 133.43 × 0.916 = $122.22
- 1 kilogram of 24K gold = 133.43 × 1,000 ≈ $133,426
In India the 6% import duty and 3% GST are then added; see the gold rate in India. For background on who sets the price, read how the gold price is determined.