Gold rangebound but ripe for sharp swings in ’26, WGC says

Gold’s record-breaking run in 2025 is setting the stage for an unusually uncertain year ahead, with the World Gold Council (WGC) forecasting that prices in 2026 will remain broadly rangebound but exposed to significant upsides — and equally sharp downsides — depending on how global risks unfold.

- Issac John [e-mail]

The key question for 2026 remains whether gold has already peaked -- or whether new global shocks could send prices soaring higher again. -- FILE PHOTO

In its Gold Outlook 2026, the council highlights a metal propelled this year by a combination of relentless geopolitical stress, a weaker US dollar, softer interest rates and the strongest official-sector buying spree in more than half a century.

So far in 2025, gold has risen 26 per cent in US-dollar terms, reaching double-digit gains in virtually every major currency. It notched more than 50 all-time highs and delivered returns of more than 60 per cent since January. That surge was fuelled by what the WGC calls a “supercharged geopolitical and geoeconomic environment,” characterised by overlapping conflicts, trade fragmentation, and rising investor suspicion about the durability of global growth. As a result, investment demand soared, with global gold ETFs alone attracting inflows of around $77 billion this year and adding more than 700 tonnes to their holdings.