With only a few days remaining in 2025, momentum in the precious metals trade drove prices to all-time highs, making gold (GC=F) and silver (SI=F) two of the biggest winners in the financial markets this year.
The price of an ounce of gold reached a record $4,450 on Monday, capping a 70% year-to-date rise in which the yellow metal has reached 50 all-time highs.
Silver's price has increased even further in 2025, more than doubling from January and hitting $69 an ounce on Monday. The yearly rise for both precious metals is expected to be the highest since 1979.
This year's rally in precious metals has been fueled by strong industrial demand and physical shortages linked to tariff concerns.
Investor attention has been focused on a variety of risk assets, including European stocks, cryptocurrencies, and the AI trade, all of which have made headlines during 2025's turbulent years.
However, it appears that gold and silver will be the year's most significant exchanges. "In the new paradigm, gold is being viewed as a currency rather than a commodity," Sprott Asset Management senior portfolio manager Shree Kargutkar told Yahoo Finance.
"We see no reason for gold to change its vector until sound monetary policies are reintroduced by the global central banking community," Kargutkar stated.
Major tailwinds for gold have included central bank stockpiling, purchases of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a declining dollar, and declining interest rates. In the upcoming year, few of these are anticipated to lessen.
Expectations that a dovish Fed and "run-it-hot" policies could further drive up prices are raised by President Trump's impending announcement of his choice to succeed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose tenure expires in May.
The fact that central banks are still "sticky" net buyers of gold gives some Wall Street analysts further leeway. With a price forecast of $4,900 by the end of 2026 and an upside risk if underallocated private investors add to their portfolios, Goldman Sachs reiterated its "structurally bullish" stance. UBS predicts that lower real yields and ongoing dollar weakness will propel gold to $4,500 by June 2026.
According to the World Gold Council, lower rates, more fiscal spending, and central bank demand might raise prices by an additional 5% to 15% in the upcoming year.
"Gold could see moderate gains if economic growth slows and interest rates continue to fall," World Gold Council senior market strategist Joe Cavatoni told Yahoo Finance on Monday. "In a more severe downturn marked by rising global risks, gold could perform strongly."
Precious metals bull Mike McGlone, a senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, has expressed some caution in response to the sharp increase in both gold and silver. "I do believe that gold can reach $5,000 with ease.
"That's momentum," McGlone remarked. However, I believe it can also reach $3,500. When you get this stretched, that's a typical range."
According to McGlone, the price of gold fell by more than 50% by 1982 following its 1979 surge and 1980 peak. "When it gets this stretched, be careful," he warned. "The most important thing for people like me who have been bullish on gold forever is two words: take profits."
