Jan. 23, 2026, looks like it will be a banner day in the history of precious metals, with silver crossing the $100 line and gold within striking distance of $5,000 an ounce.
At press time, the spot price of silver was $101 an ounce, while gold was trading at $4,986—just $14 shy of $5,000. Both numbers are all-time records.
To show how much these metals have appreciated: Gold first hit $2,500 less than a year and a half ago, while silver was trading at about $30 at the beginning of last year.
2025 turned out to be a remarkable year for both metals, with the price of gold jumping 66% and silver soaring 170%. And the momentum has been continuing into 2026.
Gold started the year around $4,500. Since then, it’s crossed new benchmarks almost daily, rising nearly 14%.
Silver’s surge is even more dramatic. It began the year around $82 and has since increased nearly 35%. While the price of silver is, like the price of gold, being helped by demand for a “safe haven,” the metal is also in genuinely short supply, according to Goldsilver.com.
“Silver has been running a structural deficit for five consecutive years,” the site said. “Industry, investment, and manufacturing demand is exceeding the amount miners can produce.”
In the face of this seemingly unstoppable bull run, analysts have had to tear up their prior predictions. Goldman Sachs’ precious metals desk upped its year-end gold forecast to $5,400, from its previous $4,900.
In its annual survey of metals watchers, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) found that “analysts see gold, silver, platinum, and palladium breaching new highs throughout the year, including not just the $6,000 mark for gold but even $7,000—while analysts expect silver to hit $160. Platinum could see highs of over $3,000 with palladium close on its tail.”
The LBMA’s forecasts singled out three main drivers of the rise of precious metal prices: geopolitical risk and uncertainty, central bank buying, and U.S. monetary policy and interest rates.
But it also looks like metals are just very hot right now, with the market favoring them over assets previously considered “safe,” like U.S. treasuries and bonds.
Traders “are looking to diversify away from U.S. assets,” TCW Group CEO Katie Koch told Bloomberg. “I would kind of describe it as quiet quitting of U.S. bonds.”
(Photo: Getty Images)
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