Gold Caps Record Year by Nearing $4,500 an Ounce

By Rob Bates | December 23, 2025

Of course, gold couldn’t let 2025 end without hitting one more record.

The yellow metal broke $4,400 an ounce for the first time yesterday, and this morning, it came within a few dollars of hitting $4,500 an ounce, a new benchmark that clears the way for it to possibly hit $5,000 an ounce.

At press time, the yellow metal was trading at $4,473 an ounce, after hitting $4,497 earlier in the day. All in all, bullion has risen nearly 70% since Jan. 1, when it began 2025 by trading at $2,623 an ounce. It quickly crossed $3,000 in March, and $4,000 in October. Now, two months later, $4,500 looks like the next domino to fall.

While most gold analysts believe its rally will continue in 2026, even major banks like UBS didn’t expect it to hit that number until the middle of next year.

But the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates—as well as widespread uncertainty about the U.S. economy and ongoing geopolitical turmoil—seems to have breathed new life into gold’s rally, and fueled continuing purchases from investors and central banks, some of whom no longer trust the U.S. dollar.

Ahmad Assiri, a strategist at Pepperstone Group, told Bloomberg that the U.S. seizures of Venezuelan oil tankers, and growing possibility of a U.S.-Venezuela war, “undoubtedly add to the background demand for gold as a must-have hedge.”

David Neuhauser, chief investment officer at Livermore Partners, said on CNBC that gold will hit $6,000, due to “increased debt, increased fiscal spending by governments, and increased inflation.

“$5,000 looks like a mark that could obviously [be] hit fairly soon in 2026,” he said. “It feels like the base is starting to become higher, where we’re going to end up in a band of about $4,000-$6,000 an ounce for gold.”

While silver hasn’t received the same publicity as gold, it has also had a remarkable year, rising nearly 140% since Jan. 1, 2025. At press time, its spot price was $70.53 per ounce, and some analysts believe $100 silver is not out of the question.

(Photo: Getty Images)