Gold prices continued their record rise on Wednesday, holding above the key $3,500 level amid growing investor confidence that the Federal Reserve (U.S. central bank) will cut interest rates in September.

Spot gold rose about 0.2% to reach $3,540.64 per ounce by 00:54 GMT. U.S. December gold futures increased 0.4% to $3,607.60.

Traders currently assign a 92% probability that the U.S. central bank will cut interest rates by 25 basis points on September 17, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Gold, which does not yield 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 tonnes on Tuesday, the highest level since August 2022.

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

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

Investors are now looking forward to the U.S. nonfarm payroll data due on Friday to determine 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 seek an urgent Supreme Court ruling on tariffs that a U.S. 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 $1,412.30, and palladium gained 1% to $1,145.69.