Gold Rate Today in the UK, September 17, 2026: 24K Rises to £105.17/g After Fed Rate Hike

LONDON — Gold posted one of its sharpest single-day advances of the month in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, rising £2.57 to £105.17 per gram after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in three years — a move markets had long anticipated and, having positioned against the metal for weeks ahead of it, spent Wednesday swiftly reversing.

The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to raise its benchmark rate by 25 basis points, lifting the target range to 3.75 to 4 percent. The decision was the first policy adjustment under Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who inherited a central bank still navigating residual above-target inflation. The committee’s updated projections showed 16 of 18 policymakers expecting at least one further hike before year-end, a hawkish signal that had already firmed the dollar through Monday and Tuesday.

Gold’s response was the opposite of what that dollar strength typically produces. The pattern has a name in trading rooms: buy the fact. Investors who had shorted the metal in the days before the announcement — betting that a rate-rise confirmation would weaken gold — found themselves on the wrong side when the decision landed. Short covering carried the spot price above £105 in London afternoon trading, and December futures in New York fell only 2.0 percent to $4,301.40 per troy ounce, a far smaller move than the pre-week positioning suggested.

The London Bullion Market Association’s morning price fix had placed gold at £3,218.50 per troy ounce earlier Wednesday — equivalent to £103.48 per gram — before the post-announcement rally pushed prices above £105. The LBMA’s twice-daily fix is the global settlement benchmark for physical gold contracts and derivatives. According to the World Gold Council, gold’s continued resilience against a rate-hiking backdrop reflects a structural reweighting by institutional investors who increasingly treat the metal as a long-duration inflation hedge rather than a zero-yield liability.

In the UK retail market, Wednesday’s advance translated to 22-karat gold at £96.41 per gram — the purity most sought by buyers of Indian and South Asian jewellery styles across British high streets — and 18-karat pieces at £78.88 per gram. The 9-karat price of £39.44 per gram, which drives the largest volume of UK jewellery sales by unit count, also moved sharply higher as buyers who had held back through the volatile pre-decision week returned to the market.

Hallmarked investment gold sold through authorised UK dealers — bars of 995 fineness and coins including the Royal Mint‘s Britannia and Sovereign series — remains exempt from VAT under Britain’s Investment Gold Relief rules. Legal-tender bullion coins additionally carry capital gains tax exemption for UK residents, a combination of tax reliefs that gives the UK one of the more investor-friendly gold markets in Europe.

What is the gold price in the UK today, September 17, 2026? The 24-karat gold price in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2026 is £105.17 per gram, or approximately £3,271 per troy ounce, based on the London spot price.

Why did gold rise after the Federal Reserve rate hike? The Fed’s 25-basis-point increase to a 3.75–4 percent target range was widely anticipated. Traders had sold gold in the days before the announcement — a classic pre-event hedge — and when the decision confirmed prior expectations, those short positions unwound rapidly, carrying prices higher in a pattern known as “buy the fact.”

Is gold VAT-free in the UK? Investment gold including bullion bars above 995 fineness and qualifying coins such as the Britannia and Sovereign is exempt from VAT in the United Kingdom under the Investment Gold Relief rules. Jewellery and collectible gold are subject to the standard 20 percent VAT rate.

When does the Bank of England meet next? The Bank of England is expected to announce its own rate decision later this month. With the Federal Reserve now in a tightening posture and UK inflation still above target, the Bank faces a similar dilemma between cooling prices and protecting a domestic economy showing only modest growth.

The London Bullion Market Association will publish its next AM and PM price fixes on Thursday morning. Gold investors are watching whether Wednesday’s Fed-driven rally holds through the Asian and European sessions before the LBMA benchmark settles the week’s final full trading day.

For context on how the market stood before this week’s central bank meeting, see the UK gold rate from September 13, when 24-karat stood at £103.48/g as markets priced in this week’s Fed decision. For the Comex-denominated perspective, the gold rate in the United States on September 14 shows how the same macro pressures were reflected in dollar terms.