Gold reached a new all-time high, breaking through $5,000 an ounce on Monday, and prolonged its record-setting streak as investors sought the security of the yellow metal with increased geopolitical and global financial risks.
Spot gold prices and U.S. gold futures in the month of February increased by 1.2 percent and traded at $5,042 and $5,036 an ounce, respectively.
The metallic festivity is timed with recent geopolitical hotspots in Greenland and Venezuela, as well as the Middle East, emphasizing the increased geopolitical risk, which supports gold as a safeguard against uncertainty.
HSBC wrote in a note last week that “The recent further leg up in gold and silver prices has arrived on the back of geoeconomics issues related to Greenland.”
However, the silver also surged on Monday, with spot prices increasing by 3 percent to $106.1 per ounce, also benefiting from industrial demand. Analysts at Union Bancaire Privée said on Friday that prices have been going up due to the long-term, sustained demand from both institutional and retail buyers.
UBP stated, “We anticipate that gold should enjoy another strong year, reflecting ongoing central bank and retail investment demand, with a year-end target price of USD 5,200 per ounce.”
Goldman Sachs believes that the demand base of gold has extended beyond conventional media. Western ETF holdings have increased 500 tonnes since the onset of 2025, whereas more recent instruments that hedge macro-policy risks, such as physical purchases by high-net-worth families, have been a growing source of demand.
The investment bank has just raised its December 2026 gold prediction to $5,400 an ounce, compared to $4,900 in the past, claiming that hedging against macro and policy risk is becoming sticky, effectively elevating the base of gold prices this year.
Therefore, the Central bank purchases also remain robust. According to Goldman, the central-bank purchases are currently averaging about 60 tonnes each month, which is much higher than the pre-2022 average of 17 tonnes, and emerging-market central banks are still moving reserves into gold.
Significantly, the bank also believes that any hedges against macro-policy risks, such as fiscal sustainability concerns, will not be lifted before 2026, unlike election-related hedges that unwound quickly after the U.S. vote in late 2024.
Goldman said last week reported, “We assume that hedges of global macro policy risks remain stable as these perceived risks (e.g., fiscal sustainability) may not fully resolve in 2026.”
