Spot gold rose on Friday and is on track to notch a fourth straight monthly gain, supported by growing investor optimism that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in December, while a technical outage at CME Group halted trading in futures contracts.

Trading on CME’s currency platform — along with futures tied to FX, commodities, Treasurys, and equities — was suspended after the disruption. Before the outage, US gold futures for December delivery were last quoted at 4,221.30 dollars an ounce.

Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery, said: “The main impact was a significant widening of over-the-counter spreads as liquidity disappeared from the futures market.”

Spot gold climbed 0.7% to 4,185.34 dollars an ounce by 07:17 GMT, marking its highest level since 14 November and heading for a weekly gain of roughly 3%. The metal is also poised for a 3.9% rise this month.

Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, noted: “Liquidity appears thin, which is amplifying some price moves. Much of gold’s upside has been driven by pre-positioning ahead of a potentially lower-rate environment.”

Traders are assigning an 85% probability to a rate cut in December, up sharply from 50% a week earlier.

Comments this week from San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly and Fed Governor Christopher Waller further reinforced expectations of a cut next month.

And like President Donald Trump, Kevin Hassett — now emerging as the leading contender to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chair — said interest rates should be lower.

Gold, which offers no yield, typically benefits from lower-rate environments.

The US dollar is heading for its worst week since late July, making dollar-priced gold more attractive for buyers using other currencies.

Among other precious metals, spot silver rose 1% to 53.98 dollars an ounce, and platinum gained 2.3% to 1,645.60 dollars. Silver is up 7.9% this week, while platinum has advanced 8.9%. Palladium slipped 0.4% to 1,433.20 dollars but remains on track for a weekly gain of about 4.3%.

Global energy and industrial sectors depend heavily on rare earth elements (REEs), a group of 17 metals essential for everything from electric-vehicle batteries and smartphones to wind turbines and catalytic converters. Although REEs usually appear only in small quantities—often as trace elements bound with similar minerals—they are not truly rare; some, like cerium, are more abundant than lead. Yet only about 1% of these elements is recycled globally due to the difficulty of separating them, their low concentrations in products, and the energy-intensive and hazardous recycling methods currently in use.

Critical materials such as aluminum and cobalt, by contrast, have far higher recycling rates—often approaching 100%. Aluminum scrap has now emerged as one of Europe’s most valuable critical raw materials, as the European Union intensifies efforts to keep more recyclable resources within the continent. According to EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, more than one million metric tons of aluminum scrap leave Europe each year as exports—an amount the bloc sees as far too high. Europe is a net exporter of aluminum scrap, with shipments reaching a record 1.26 million tons in 2024.

Rising US tariffs on primary aluminum have driven a surge in European scrap exports to the United States. A large share—up to 65%—also goes to Asian markets, including China, India, and Turkey, while other volumes flow to OECD countries outside the EU. Although President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on primary and semi-fabricated aluminum to 50% in June, aluminum scrap remains exempt. Still, the trend predates Trump’s second administration: consultancy Project Blue estimates that European scrap exports to non-EU destinations have grown by nearly 9% annually from 2018 to 2024.

The EU has set a target for recycled materials to supply 25% of the bloc’s total critical-metal needs by 2030. Europe requires much more recycled aluminum because its recovery uses only 5% of the energy needed to produce primary aluminum. With soaring energy costs having forced many primary smelters in Europe to shut down, the rise in scrap exports is worsening the continent’s raw-material shortage. European leaders now fear they may not meet the 2030 target, with the European Aluminium Association estimating that around 15% of the region’s recycling-furnace capacity is currently idle due to a lack of feedstock.

Not all aluminum scrap is equally valuable. High-purity scrap, such as used beverage cans, is in particularly high demand in Europe—one reason the aluminum industry is pushing for an immediate export ban on this category. Europe recycles around 75% of aluminum drink cans, compared with just 43% in the United States. By contrast, mixed-grade scrap such as “Zorba” and “Twitch,” typically recovered from end-of-life vehicles, is far harder and more expensive to process, and the EU is more willing to export it.

Recycling Potential

The potential for recycling critical minerals and REEs is enormous. Earlier studies show that improving collection systems for batteries, lamps, and magnets could raise REE recycling rates from today’s 1% to between 20% and 40%. That would equal roughly 5% of global mined REE output—around half of the United States’ annual production. Even more could be achieved. Simon Jowitt, assistant professor of geoscience at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told ArsTechnica that recycling rates could exceed 40% if technologies such as electric-vehicle systems are widely adopted.

Still, recycling large amounts of REEs is no simple task. Many electronics destined for recycling contain only small or uneven quantities of REEs, making recovery costly and inefficient. In many cases, manufacturers do not oversee recycling processes directly, leaving them unaware of the precise materials embedded in their own products.

Here, the US rare-earth industry could learn from Europe.

Under the EU’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive, manufacturers must finance or carry out recycling of their own devices. Retailers must provide free collection services for e-waste, with clear rules for sellers and consumers. Vendors of new appliances are required to offer free “take-back” of similar old items, and large retailers must accept small electronics for recycling without requiring any purchase. These policies form part of a broader framework aimed at responsible disposal, reuse, and recycling of electronic devices.

Ultimately, success may depend on political will—or the lack of it.

Permitting procedures in the United States are notoriously long, often stretching up to three decades, compared with just two years in countries like Australia and Canada. The complex layers of local, state, and federal regulations also pose major obstacles for US mining companies, especially compared with their Chinese competitors.

Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as traders weighed peace-related discussions over the war in Ukraine against the impact of Western sanctions on Russian supply, with overall activity expected to remain muted due to the US Thanksgiving holiday.

Brent crude futures inched up 5 cents, or 0.1%, to 63.18 dollars a barrel by 14:12 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate gained 18 cents, or 0.3%, to 58.83 dollars.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the outlines of the US–Ukrainian draft peace proposal could form a basis for future agreements to end the conflict. He added that fighting would stop once Ukrainian forces withdraw from key areas under their control, but stressed that if this does not happen, Russia would achieve its objectives by force.

US and Ukrainian officials are working to narrow differences over President Donald Trump’s plan to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, with Kyiv wary of pressure to accept a deal largely aligned with Russia’s conditions, including territorial concessions.

Barclays wrote in a note: “Geopolitical volatility persists, and hopes for a possible Russia–Ukraine ceasefire have tempered supply concerns stemming from new US sanctions on major Russian producers.”

Meanwhile, OPEC and its allies are expected to leave oil output levels unchanged at their meetings on Sunday and agree on a mechanism to assess members’ maximum production capacity, according to two delegates and a source familiar with the OPEC+ talks.

The eight OPEC+ countries that had been gradually raising output in 2025 are also likely to maintain their pause on increases through the first quarter of 2026, the delegates said.

Oil’s downside was limited by rising expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December, as lower interest rates typically boost economic activity and support oil demand.

“We’re heading into year-end with thinner liquidity and no fresh catalysts — unless the Fed surprises markets with a hawkish signal at the December 10 FOMC meeting,” said Kelvin Wong, senior market analyst at OANDA.

He added: “WTI will likely stay range-bound between 56.80 and 60.40 dollars through year-end.”

Bitcoin climbed on Thursday, reclaiming levels above 91,000 dollars as expectations mounted for a Federal Reserve rate cut, triggering a fresh wave of investor interest.

After dropping toward 80,000 dollars last Friday — its lowest since April — the world’s largest cryptocurrency reversed course and traded 5.1% higher at 91,527.5 dollars by 06:19 a.m. ET (11:19 GMT).

Traders now assign roughly an 85% probability to a quarter-point rate cut, a sharp jump from 44% a week earlier. Lower interest rates typically support “risk assets” such as Bitcoin by boosting liquidity and encouraging demand for higher-yielding alternatives.

Still, pockets of caution remain. Inflation in the US is still elevated, and broader economic data has been mixed, raising questions over how quickly the Fed can move — and whether Bitcoin’s rebound is a short-term correction or the start of a more durable upswing.

Among optimists, the potential appointment of Kevin Hassett as the next Fed Chair — seen by some as inclined toward looser monetary policy — adds further momentum to the bullish outlook for Bitcoin and other risk-sensitive assets.

Naver Financial to acquire Upbit operator in a 10 billion dollar deal

Naver Financial, the payments arm of South Korea’s tech giant Naver Corp., agreed to acquire Dunamu, the operator of the major cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, in a transaction valued at around 10 billion dollars.

The deal will be executed through a share swap that will make Dunamu a wholly owned subsidiary of Naver Financial.

The companies said the merger will combine Naver’s large digital payments ecosystem with Upbit’s dominant position in South Korea’s crypto-trading market.

It marks one of the largest fintech and digital-asset M&A deals in the country to date, positioning Naver to expand into blockchain-based financial services once regulatory approvals are secured.

Crypto prices today: altcoins advance

Most altcoins gained on Thursday, following Bitcoin’s rise amid improving risk appetite.

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, rose 3.9% to 3,029.29 dollars.

XRP, the third-largest, added 0.8% to 2.1874 dollars.