Analytics

The latest escalation in the Middle East has reminded the global bullion market of something it rarely confronts so directly: gold and silver are not only financial assets, but also physical commodities that must move through real-world infrastructure. When that infrastructure is disrupted, markets react in ways that go far beyond the usual “safe-haven” narrative.

Over the past week, the…

China is quietly executing one of the most ambitious gold strategies in modern financial history. What looks on the surface like a retail boom — crowded jewelry counters in Hainan, bullion shops replacing fashion boutiques in Hong Kong — is in fact part of a much broader effort to reshape the global gold order. Beijing is moving on several fronts at once: building trading infrastructure in Hong Kong, encouraging overseas acquisitions by mainland miners, deepening central bank reserves, and channeling domestic demand through duty-free and retail arbitrage.

Silver steadied above $88 per ounce on February 24, 2026, a level that would have seemed extraordinary only a few years ago but now feels almost routine after the metal’s dramatic ascent. In January, silver briefly broke through the psychologically powerful $100 threshold for the first time in modern history.

In early 2026, as gold prices hover near historic highs and silver trades around 77–79 dollars per ounce, a quiet but powerful shift is unfolding across Asia. From factory towns in southern China to bullion shops in Singapore and even vending machines in Dushanbe, ordinary households are rethinking what security means. The rush into precious metals is no longer driven primarily by speculation or festive gifting. It is becoming something deeper: a family strategy for navigating economic uncertainty.

The final days of January 2026 delivered a shock that precious-metals investors had been bracing for, even if few expected the timing or the force. After a relentless rally that pushed gold to record highs above $5,600 per ounce and silver briefly beyond $120, both metals suffered their worst single-day sell-off since 1980.

The year 2025 will likely be remembered as a turning point in the modern history of gold. Both in physical terms and in market value, global demand reached levels never seen before, reflecting a deep shift in how investors, households, institutions, and governments perceive risk, money, and long-term security. Total gold demand, including over-the-counter transactions, exceeded 5,000 tonnes for the first time, while the gold price set 53 new all-time highs over the course of the year.

Silver’s leap above 100 dollars per ounce in January 2026 marks one of the most extreme price moves in the modern history of the metal. After already gaining about 147% in 2025, silver added another 40% in just the first weeks of the new year, pushing it far beyond levels that many analysts consider justified by fundamentals alone.

The sharp rise in gold prices over the past two years has transformed gold from a conservative reserve asset into a central pillar of monetary sovereignty and geopolitical risk management. With bullion prices climbing more than 60% and repeatedly setting new records above 4,300 dollars per troy ounce, gold has re-entered the strategic core of global finance.

The price surge in precious metals during 2025 did not simply lift gold and silver to new highs; it fundamentally changed how people in different countries interact with these metals. What is striking is not just the scale of the rally, but the consistency of one outcome across very different markets: jewellery is losing ground to bars and coins. Yet this shift is not driven by a single global logic. Instead, it reflects a mosaic of national circumstances—tourism flows, tax systems, inflation histories, currency weakness, and deeply rooted cultural habits—that together are reshaping physical demand.

Gold’s surge in 2025 has challenged the traditional assumption that sharp price gains must be followed by deep corrections. Prices posted their strongest annual jump since the 1979 oil crisis and doubled over the past two years, reaching a record near $4,380 per troy ounce in October after never having traded above $3,000 before March. In previous cycles, such a move would almost automatically have triggered expectations of a collapse. Instead, analysts at JP Morgan, Bank of America, and Metals Focus increasingly argue that gold is entering a structurally higher price regime, with levels around $5,000 per ounce in 2026 now seen as plausible rather than extreme.