Gold hit a fresh record high of $3,139.90 an ounce this week after crossing the $3,000 mark for the first time in March. While President Donald Trump’s tariff rollout tarnished prices on Thursday, investors remain positive on the yellow metal.
"While traditionally inflation and real yields have been the main drivers of gold prices, recently central bank buying has emerged as the primary catalyst behind the current gold price increase," according to a recent research note by Bank of America’s Global Commodity Research’s Franciso Blanch and Irina Shaorshadze.
The team sees gold reaching $3,500, a 13% increase from current levels.
George Milling-Stanley, chief gold strategist at State Street Global Advisors, also believes central-bank buying will keep gold humming this year, but he also sees two additional drivers.
(Trading Economics)
"We've seen a big increase in investment in the emerging markets and especially China, but in India and elsewhere over the last year," he told FOX Business during an interview in February. "We've seen a revival in investment in gold in the Western world, in Western Europe and North America, I think mostly because of concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy and for the European economies, for that matter" he added.
U.S. stocks were rattled Thursday after Trump’s reciprocal tariff rollout, with all three of the major averages tumbling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 1,600 points, or 4%, while the S&P 500 lost nearly 5% and the Nasdaq Composite about 6%.
A view of ingots of 99.99% pure gold (Alexander Manzyuk/Anadolu via Getty Images)
"Ever since the United States froze the assets of the Russians when they invaded Ukraine, gold has been a good place to be, and I think that will continue to be the case. The more uncertainty and chaos, the better gold should do," said Edward Yardeni, Yardeni Research president, during an appearance on Fox Business' "Making Money with Charles Payne" on Thursday.
So far this year, gold has advanced $467.80, or 17.79%, as tracked by the Dow Jones Market Data Group. By comparison, the S&P 500, the broadest measure of stocks, has dropped 8%.
State Street’s SPDR Gold Trust ETF, the only ETF backed by physical gold, has advanced 18%. By comparison, the S&P 500, the broadest measure of the stock market, has lost 8%.