Gold has fallen 5.5% from its Aug. 25 three-month high of $4,697, trading near $4,436 and below its 200-day moving average at about $4,529. The metal briefly dropped under $4,400 on Monday, its weakest level since Aug. 19, as renewed expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike weighed on a non-yielding asset. Goldman Sachs Research retained its $4,900 year-end 2026 target, implying roughly 10% upside from the latest price, while warning in June that a Fed hike could push gold to $4,400 by year-end. The bank expects central banks to buy an average of 50 tonnes of gold monthly in 2026, compared with 17 tonnes before 2022. Fidelity’s analysis places gold’s value near $5,000 against global M2 money supply, while a sustained break below the 200-day average could pressure the broader debasement trade linking gold and Bitcoin demand to currency erosion.