Gold Surged to Record High as Shutdown Entered Second Week

Barry Adams
08 Oct, 2025
New York City

Stocks in New York attempted to rebound after a week of lackluster trading amid growing worries about the stretched valuation of tech stocks. 

The S&P 500 index inched up 0.1%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.3%, and the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes edged lower to 4.103%.

Gold surged 1.3% to $4,031 an ounce, and the price of the yellow metal crossed $4,000 for the first time as investors sought a safe haven asset. 

Investor anxieties are high amid mounting concerns about the U.S. federal government shutdown, broader economic uncertainty, and the Trump administration's unpredictable trade policy. 

Increasingly investors are preferring gold as a reserve asset over the U.S. dollar denominated-assets, including the U.S. Treasury bonds.

Moreover, consumers are worried about the resurgent food price inflation, and the Trump administration's heavy-handed approach in handling farm labor is pushing thousands of farmers on the brink of collapse.

The U.S. president offered his support for bailing out wheat, soybean, and corn farmers who export most of their crops to China; however, the world's second-largest economy has stopped purchasing U.S. agricultural goods in retaliation to Trump's goods tariffs. 

The U.S. government has subsidized farmers in the past, which in effect ends up supporting farmers who put food on the table of Chinese customers. 

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Joby Aviation dropped 10.6% to $16.89, and the aviation company priced its secondary offering at a discount.

The vertical landing and takeoff company sold 30.5 million shares at $16.85 per share. The latest secondary offering raised around $514 million.  

Fair Isaac Corp. decreased 3.7% to $1,810.0, and the company trimmed the previous session's 20% surge after the credit score company announced a new pricing structure. 

The credit score company announced its plans to license its FICO scores to mortgage resellers, bypassing credit reporting bureaus, who can provide direct access to loan seekers. 

Equifax edged up 2.3% to $244.0 and rebounded from a 10% drop in the previous week.