Gold prices continued their record rise in early Wednesday trading, holding above the key $3500 level amid growing investor confidence that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) will cut interest rates in September.

Spot gold rose about 0.2% to reach $3540.64 per ounce by 00:54 GMT. US December gold futures increased 0.4% to $3607.60, according to Reuters data.

Traders currently expect with a 92% probability that the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points on September 17, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Gold, which yields no income, typically rallies in a low interest rate environment.

The SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 1.32% to 990.56 tons on Tuesday, the highest level since August 2022.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Washington needs a “very serious” interest rate cut.

Trump has criticized the Fed and its chairman Jerome Powell for months for not cutting rates, and recently also criticized Powell over the costly renovation of the Fed’s headquarters in Washington.

Investors are now looking ahead to the US nonfarm payroll data scheduled for release on Friday to gauge the expected size of the rate cut.

Nonfarm payrolls for August are expected to have increased by 78,000 jobs, according to a Reuters poll, compared to 73,000 jobs in July.

Adding to market uncertainty and potential trade tensions, the Trump administration said it will ask the Supreme Court for an urgent ruling on tariffs that a US appeals court ruled unlawful last week.

As for other precious metals, spot silver fell 0.2% to $40.81 per ounce. Platinum rose 0.6% to $1412.30, and palladium increased 1% to $1145.69.