Gold's rally echoes the 1980s

Prices up 16% after 27% rise in 2024

- POLINA DEVITT VERONICA BROWN

Gold's latest gallop to all-time highs draws comparisons with the last time politics and macroeconomic turmoil were the main drivers of record prices, back in 1980. But market players say the nature of this rally — and potentially it's ability to endure — looks different.

Intensitions running high between allies over US tariffs, global trade, and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, big powers look unlikely to pull together to swiftly resolve the issues that drive interest in bullion as a haven from risk, analysts say.

Gold's surge above $3,000 an ounce, driven most recently by US President Donald Trump now touting tariffs as a trading partner, has been seen for a long time as a geopolitical and economic uncertainty have been the top factors moving the gold market, HSBC analyst James Steel said.

Spot gold hit a record $3,167.67 per troy ounce last week, and is up 16% so far this year, on top of 27% growth in 2024. While the market's trajectory won't be linear, analysts say gold's entry into uncharted territory looks more sustainable than the one seen 45 years ago.