As Gold competes for new records, Wall Street analysts are rushing to raise price targets, touching $3,500 in the third quarter as the latest calls from the Macquarie Group predict precious metals.
Gold futures (GC=F) went above $2,990 per ounce on Thursday as the trade war intensifies and the release of modest inflation data raised questions about whether the Federal Reserve could be cut further this year.
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“Every year, Gold runs ahead of our expectations,” wrote Marcus Garvey, Macquarie's head of product strategy, on Thursday.
“We are increasing our gold price forecast to $3,150 per ounce at an average peak in the 3Q25th quarter, and our single point price to $3,500 per ounce,” Garvey wrote.
“The rapid move to President Trump's announcement, if not always enacted, contributed to geopolitical uncertainty, raising expectations of inflation, pushing down real interest rates on the front-end, supporting gold in the face of regular USD intensity, and initially reducing expectations of a Fed rate cut,” the strategist wrote.
The target pay raise comes after BNP Paribas strategists asked them to push prices above $3,100 in the second quarter.
“It issues many tariff threats and re-editing international relations will add a new layer of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, which will significantly boost gold,” BNP's David Wilson wrote in a memo on Wednesday.
Gold futures have risen by more than 11% per year since January, reaching multiple record highs.
Wall Street attributes many of these benefits to ongoing central bank purchases and tariff uncertainty, including the possibility that even importing precious metals into the United States may not be spared.
read more: What does Trump's tariff mean for the economy and your wallet?
Institutional investors moved to frontrun tariffs and volumes increased in New York safes to capitalize on the price gap between London and New York.
Last month, Goldman Sachs analysts raised their year-end gold price forecast to $3,100 per ounce from their previous forecast of $2,890.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her with X @ines_ferre.
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