Gold has climbed above $5,000 an ounce for the first time, as uncertainty around Donald Trump’s policy direction prompts investors to move into safe-haven assets. Silver prices have also continued to rise, building on last week’s move above $100 an ounce – with spot silver jumping more than 4 per cent to about $107.60 after hitting a new record.
Gold briefly touched a record high of about $5,100 on Monday morning before easing back to finish up around 2.2 per cent at roughly $5,089.
The record came as Trump’s threat of tariffs on Canada and a clash with Europe over Greenland added to market unease, which had already been growing as Democrats pushed back on Homeland Security funding amid fallout from a fatal shooting by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis that has heightened the risk of a government shutdown.
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Monday’s levels mark a remarkable and unprecedented run for gold, which has climbed nearly 90 per cent since Trump took office just over a year ago.
The metal surged 64 per cent last year, buoyed by safe-haven demand, looser US monetary policy, strong central bank buying and record inflows into gold ETFs. So far this year, prices are up more than 17 per cent.
‘We expected gold to keep pushing higher over time, but I don’t think that anyone expected the speed of the move,’ CEO of GoldCore David Russell told Spear’s.
‘The recent surge past $5,000 an ounce has coincided with familiar headline risks but not one major headline which one might think is unusual,’ he explained, adding that ‘what is striking is that gold has been rising even when the news flow is thin [which] reinforces the idea that this is not a reactionary trade, […] this is not a bubble.’
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Russell said investors are now using gold as a catch-all hedge against a range of overlapping risks, from doubts over policy credibility and government finances to geopolitical tensions and currency weakness. In his view, the shift reflects a deeper, structural revaluation of gold’s role rather than a brief surge driven by alarming headlines.
‘That is structural repricing, not a short-lived panic driven by headlines,’ he said.
‘The continuing trend becomes easier to understand once you stop thinking of gold as a crisis button investor hit, and instead start thinking of it as a balance-sheet hedge. What is driving the move is a gradual but persistent reassessment of sovereign risk, policy credibility, and currency stability.’
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For Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault, it is silver’s move through $100 an ounce that has been the real surprise. ‘The market has really got the bit between its teeth, because precious metals’ long-term drivers of debt debasement and diversification have been accelerated by the Trump White House’s attack on both its NATO allies and its domestic opponents,’ he told Spear’s.
Ash said the current trend is being driven by a new wave of first-time investors, particularly private buyers in Asia and Europe, who are moving quickly to build personal holdings of gold and silver. By contrast, he noted that US investors have so far remained largely on the sidelines, despite growing domestic political tensions and what he described as a clear erosion of US authority and investment appeal on the global stage.
What should UHNW investors know as the price of gold increases?
Gold has historically been a safe haven in times of uncertainty, and in an era defined by political and economic instability, it presents a compelling investment opportunity. Interest among UHNW investors has grown markedly over the past five years, and experts stress that gold is more than a short-term trend – it should not merely be regarded as a refuge in turbulent times.
For Russell, the key advice is to treat gold as a strategic allocation rather than a short-term trade. ‘Attempting to time pullbacks perfectly risks missing what the market is actually doing, which is consolidating and rebuilding at higher levels,’ he said.
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‘Investors must consider how they wish to hold physical gold, ideally allocated and segregated, rather than paper proxies that behave well until stress tests reveal their limitations. Jurisdiction (where you store) and custody (who you store with) deserve as much thought as your entry price.’
In short, Russell said the move is ‘less about chasing gold and more about rebalancing away from one-system risk.’ He advises investors to first define the role gold is meant to play in a portfolio – whether as a store of value, a currency or crisis hedge, or a broader systemic stabiliser – and size their exposure accordingly.
What should UHNW investors expect from future changes in gold prices?
For founder and CEO of The Pure Gold Company Josh Saul, what UHNW investors should expect isn’t really about hitting price targets, but about the environment they’re facing.
He sees more volatility, more policy intervention, rising debt, and ongoing currency debasement, all of which are likely to keep demand strong for scarce, tangible assets. Gold, he told Spear’s, is increasingly being treated as a top-tier holding on private balance sheets rather than just a niche or defensive play.
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Paul adds that the exact price isn’t the point. ‘Gold doesn’t move because someone picks a number. It moves because confidence rises or falls,’ he said.
As long as geopolitical tensions continue, debt keeps growing, and central banks are caught between inflation and recession, gold is likely to stay supported and keep trending higher.
The bigger question, he added, is not how high it will go, but what it will be protecting investors from when it does.
