By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com – Gold had one of its better days for September as the month ended. However, the gains were too small and too late for any meaningful use in the month or quarter.

U.S. gold futures’ most active contract, , settled down in Thursday’s trade at $1,757 per ounce on New York’s Comex, up $34.10, or 2%.

In September, it was down 3.4% and lost 0.8% in the third quarter.

Even with a rise in U.S. Treasury yields, the latest spike in gold occurred.

Traders said the rise could be on overdue concerns about inflation as prices were projected to get to $90 per barrel from current rates just below $80.

Also somewhat helping gold’s safe-haven status was the debacle in the Senate where Democrats were trying to secure a deal with rival Republicans to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avert a government shutdown and what could be the country’s first-ever debt default.

“This is also happening because the gold market may have gotten a bit too short here,” said Ed Moya, analyst at online trading platform OANDA.

“If this gold rebound continues, sellers will likely emerge ahead of the $1,780 level. The energy crisis could make gold more vulnerable to further decline. The economic recoveries in Europe and Asia are vulnerable here and fears of $90 oil could trigger massive reversal in interest rate hike expectations.”