Gold Crosses $5,000 Milestone as Traders Pile Into Havens — Update

By Ronnie Harui and Fabiana Negrin Ochoa

Gold has broken past the $5,000-an-ounce barrier, crossing the key level for the first time on Monday as worries about a U.S. government shutdown added fresh fuel to the metal's red-hot rally.

The precious metal has smashed records over the past year as investors piled into safe-haven assets amid anxiety over geopolitical tensions and frothy equities markets. Dollar weakness and lower interest rates have heightened gold's appeal, while central banks have been rotating into gold aggressively to burnish their foreign reserves.

Investors continued seeking refuge in haven assets on Monday, pushing spot gold to a record high of $5,093.19 an ounce, ICE data showed. Spot silver also hit a fresh peak of $109.448 an ounce. That came on the back of broad dollar weakness, with the U.S. dollar index last 0.5% lower.

The metals' gains pulled mining stocks up sharply in Asia, with names like Zijin Mining Group surging in Hong Kong and China, and Korea Zinc climbing over 14% in South Korea.

The momentum in precious metals appears relentless, and shows no signs of stopping, Sucden Financial said in commentary.

Monday's moves were driven by the risk that the U.S. government will shut down for the second time in months after Senate Democrats, angered by a shooting in Minneapolis, said they wouldn't vote for a federal funding package without major changes to homeland security provisions. The Democrats' call for changes raised the prospect of Congress running out of time before funding for much of the federal government expires at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 31, which would trigger a partial government shutdown.

Renewed worries about tariffs added to the risk-off mood after President Trump threatened measures against Canada over a trade deal with China.

"If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A.," he said on Truth Social over the weekend.

That pours more cold water on any hopes that 2026 would be a calmer year on the geopolitical front after the volatility seen in 2025 over the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs on trading partners and continued conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

In the first month of this year, markets have been jolted by the U.S. seizure of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro and Trump's efforts to take control of Greenland. Concerns about the Federal Reserve's independence have persisted too as Trump kept up criticism over the central bank's chief, Jerome Powell, whose term expires soon.

Against that backdrop, analysts see plenty of room for gold to keep marching higher.

"We continue to keep an eye on geopolitical hotspots--Trump's desire to control and establish his rights on Greenland's minerals, attack Iran and plans for Venezuela as it occupies the country," Maybank analysts said in a note.

The macro environment looks supportive too, Maybank said, citing Fed easing, slowing global growth and lingering inflation.

Goldman Sachs analysts last week raised their forecast for gold to reach $5,400 an ounce by the end of the year, up from $4,900 an ounce previously, citing central bank buying and private-sector diversification into gold.

Spot gold has jumped around 17% year to date, while silver has powered roughly 51% higher, ICE data showed.

Goldman Sachs sees the risks to its gold forecast as two-sided but significantly skewed to the upside.

"Private sector investors may diversify further on lingering global policy uncertainty," the investment bank said. "That said, a sharp reduction in perceived risks around the long-run path for global fiscal/monetary policy would pose downside risk if it were to cause liquidation of macro policy hedges."

--Amanda Lee contributed to this article

Write to Ronnie Harui at ronnie.harui@wsj.com and Fabiana Negrin Ochoa at fabiana.negrinochoa@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 25, 2026 23:43 ET (04:43 GMT)