Some offers on this page are from advertisers who pay us, which may affect which products we write about, but not our recommendations. See our Advertiser Disclosure.

Gold (GC=F) June futures opened at $4678.60 per troy ounce on Tuesday, 0.1% lower than Monday’s closing price of $4,684.70. The gold price rose slightly in early trading.

Iran war developments are influencing traders’ risk appetite. The gold price hangs in the balance between escalating U.S. threats and references to a war exit. On Monday, President Trump took a softer tone, implying he would not seize Iran’s oil, a move that would complicate and extend the war effort. Still, the president’s Tuesday night deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is quickly approaching. If Iran doesn’t comply, Trump said he would attack the country’s power plants. Iranian officials have characterized the threat as an intent to commit a war crime.

While gold prices can respond positively to geopolitical tensions, this war has the added complication of causing oil inflation. Higher oil prices could spark a broader inflation trend, which may prompt the Fed to raise interest rates. Rising interest rates tend to suppress gold demand and pricing.

Learn more: Who decides what gold is worth? How gold prices are determined.

The opening price of gold futures on Tuesday was 0.1% lower than Monday’s close. Here’s a look at how the opening gold price has changed versus last week, month, and year:

One week ago: +3.7%

One month ago: -8.6%

One year ago: +55.1%

The precious metal’s one-year gain was 95.6% on Jan. 29.

24/7 gold price tracking: Don't forget you can monitor the current price of gold on Yahoo Finance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Want to learn more about the current top-performing companies in the gold industry? Explore a list of the top-performing companies in the gold industry using the Yahoo Finance Screener. You can create your own screeners with over 150 different screening criteria.

Gold has the same high-level risk as any investment: You could lose money. And, as with other investments, a loss on gold can materialize in different ways. Understanding the potential outcomes is the first step to managing your risk when investing in gold.

According to gold experts, would-be gold investors should understand these four risks:

Price

Speculation

Opportunity cost

Fraud

Today, we’ll focus on the first two: price and speculation.

Learn more: How to invest in gold in 4 steps

There is a price risk for investors who buy gold when the metal is nearing record high prices. “Buying high to hope for short-term higher is a tough strategy,” said Darrell Fletcher, managing director, commodities at Bannockburn Capital Markets.

Despite the high prices, there are positive dynamics in play for the precious metal. Fletcher pointed out that gold is recovering from decades of low prices, and it’s an increasingly popular diversification asset for central banks and individual investors.

The right expectations, a long timeline, and an appropriate allocation can limit your pricing risk. “Gold should not be seen as a driver of supercharged returns — it’s there to act primarily as a stabilizer in a diversified portfolio,” explained Alex Tsepaev, chief strategy officer of B2PRIME Group.

If you are interested in learning more about gold’s historical value, Yahoo Finance has been tracking the historical price of gold since 2000.

Thomas Winmill, portfolio manager at Midas Funds, encourages investors to view positions in gold bullion, coins, and ETFs as speculative. Gold is a commodity, and “commodity prices are dependent on macroeconomic, political, industrial, and financial factors that are unpredictable, and in some cases, unknowable.”

Despite its recent performance, gold is an unpredictable asset. Keeping that in mind when making trading decisions could protect you from over-exposure and unrealistic expectations.

Learn more: Thinking of buying gold? Here's what investors should watch for.

Whether you’re tracking the price of gold since last month or last year, the price-of-gold chart below shows the precious metal’s steady upward climb in value.

Learn more: Gold alternatives? How to invest in silver, platinum, and palladium.

Tim Manni edited this article.

Gold prices have skyrocketed in recent years, but how high can they go next? Here are the boldest predictions for how gold will perform.

The two primary gold prices investors should know are spot prices and gold futures prices. Learn the difference, the historical price of gold, and the current dynamics.

Gold has the same high-level risk as any investment. Would-be gold investors should understand the risks associated with price, speculation, opportunity cost, and fraud.

Gas and diesel prices are hitting new highs as geopolitical instability in the Middle East disrupts supply. Here's a breakdown of how international tensions influence pump prices.

Learn how to invest in gold by considering gold's strengths, historical behavior, and the pros and cons of physical gold versus gold mining stocks and ETFs.

If you had $1 million in 1900, you could buy 53,000 ounces of gold. Today, that amount would be worth $278 million. See how gold prices have changed over time.