Gold could hit US$5,000 by Q2 2026, maybe earlier - Expert

WASHINGTON - Gold prices could hit US$5,000 an ounce by the middle of next year or maybe earlier as investors pile into a precious metal, seen as both a haven and a hedge against a weakening dollar, said prominent metals analyst Phillip Streible.

"I think we're going to US$5,000," Streible, chief metals strategist at Chicago’s Blue Line Futures, said on Monday.

"We've got everything in place for a continued rally. I think it'll probably be a first or second quarter event. But given the rally we’re in, it could even happen in a week, who knows.

Analysts at Bank of America, JPMorgan, Société Générale, and Deutsche Bank have also previously forecast a gold price of US$5,000, although the timeframes for these forecasts varied, with some extending as far as 2027.

Streible’s call came after gold futures and spot prices hit record highs on Monday amid geopolitical tensions heightened by increasing United States (US) aggression against Venezuela, including the seizure of tankers loaded with oil belonging to the Latin American country.

At Monday’s height, US gold futures for February delivery on New York’s Comex reached US$4,484.50 an ounce. Spot gold, which tracks real-time trades in gold bullion, reached a peak of US$4,449.22.

The dollar fell about 0.5 per cent to 98.20 against a basket of six currencies in a development likely prompting central banks to increase gold purchases as a hedge against reserves held in dollars.

Gold prices surged on Monday following reports that US forces had apprehended a Panama-flagged vessel carrying Venezuelan oil in the Caribbean on Dec. 20 and were in pursuit of another such ship in international waters.

Before this, a tanker laden with Venezuelan oil was seized on Dec. 10 and has been anchored off the Texas coast since.

Last Tuesday, US President Donald Trump announced a complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers bound to and from Venezuela.

He added that the US will not allow "a hostile regime to take our oil, land, or any other assets, all of which must be returned to the US."

The US justifies its military presence in the Caribbean region by the fight against drug trafficking.

In September-November, it repeatedly used its armed forces to destroy boats allegedly carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela.

In November, Trump expressed the opinion that President Nicolas Maduro's days as Venezuela's leader were numbered, while assuring that Washington had no plans to go to war with Caracas.

Venezuela viewed these actions as a provocation aimed at destabilising the region and as a violation of international agreements on the demilitarised and nuclear-free status of the Caribbean. - BERNAMA