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The price of gold has surged past $5,000 per troy ounce (31.1g) for the first time, as turmoil and uncertainty drive the precious metal’s longest rally in history.
FT Explains editor John Reed examines why gold fever is sweeping over investors.
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The price of gold in 2026
January has featured the metal’s strongest monthly rally in more than 40 years.
Measured in real terms, the gold price in 2025 broke through a record last set in 1980. It is expected to surpass that milestone this year, having risen more than 15 per cent in January alone.
What’s behind the gold rally?
Gold bullion, unlike stocks and exchange traded funds (or ETFs), is a physical asset and a traditional store of wealth. As such, it is something people buy when they’re worried that — as one pundit put it — everything else in the world economy “seems wobbly”.
As more investors worry about geopolitical tensions, Donald Trump’s trade tariffs and rising government debt, investors are reverting to neutral physical assets — such as gold and silver — as a hedge against market risks.
Traders said events in Venezuela, Greenland and Iran were among the factors driving buyers of gold and other “safe haven assets” in recent days.
Who is buying into the gold rally?
Central banks are buying up gold as an alternative to the weakening US dollar. Banks are also now recommending gold as a core part of investors’ portfolios.
Is gold overvalued at $5,000?
Some are now calling the rush into gold “gold-plated Fomo” and cautious investors have warned of a 1980s-style market bubble if the current gold rally continues.
Investors this year are now waiting and watching to see whether gold keeps going or loses its shine.