Business
Gold tops $5,000 for first time ever, adding to historic rally
Peter Hoskinsand
Adam Hancock,Business reporters
Hiba Kola/ReutersThe price of gold has risen above $5,000 (£3,659) an ounce for the first time ever, extending a historic rally that saw the precious metal jump by more than 60% in 2025.
It comes as tensions between the US and NATO over Greenland have added to growing concerns about financial and geopolitical uncertainty.
US President Donald Trump’s trade policies have also worried markets. On Saturday he threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Canada if it strikes a trade deal with China.
Gold and other precious metals are seen as so-called safe-haven assets that investors buy in times of uncertainty. On Friday, silver topped $100 an ounce for the first time, building on its almost 150% rise last year.
Demand for precious metals has also been driven by a range of other factors including higher-than-usual inflation, the weak US dollar, buying by central banks around the world and as the US Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates again this year.
Wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as Washington seizing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, have also helped push up the price of gold.
One of the biggest appeals of gold is its relative scarcity. Only around 216,265 tonnes of the metal have ever been mined, according to the World Gold Council trade association.
That’s enough to fill between three to four Olympic-sized swimming pools. The majority of that was only extracted from the earth since 1950, as mining technology advanced and new deposits were discovered.
The US Geological Survey estimates that another 64,000 tonnes of gold can still be mined from underground reserves, although the supply of the metal is predicted to plateau in the coming years.
“When you own gold, it’s not attached to the debt of somebody else like a bond is or an equity where the performance of a company will drive performance,” said Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery.
“It’s a really good diversifier in a very uncertain world,” he added.
‘People go to gold’
Gold saw a blockbuster year in 2025, with its biggest annual gain since 1979 as investors flocked to precious metals.
With financial markets spooked by concerns including Trump’s tariffs and fears that artificial intelligence-related stocks are overpriced, gold repeatedly hit new record highs.
“I think a large part of that is the extreme uncertainty we have around US policy,” said Nikos Kavlis from research consultancy Metals Focus.
While economic concerns can help to push up the price of gold, it also tends to rise when investors expect interest rates to be cut.
Lower rates typically mean smaller returns for investments such as bonds, so investors look to assets like gold and silver.
The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its main interest rate twice this year.
“It’s inversely correlated because the opportunity cost of keeping the money in a [government bond] is really not worth it anymore, so people go to gold,” said Ahmad Assiri, Research Strategist at Pepperstone.
Getty ImagesIt’s not just investors who have been buying up gold.
Last year, central banks added hundreds of tons of bullion to their reserves, according to the World Gold Council.
“There’s a very clear shift away from the US dollar, which is benefiting gold immensely,” said Kavalis.
The start of this year has seen gold continue to rally but Frappell warns the “news-driven” market could also result in a fall in its price.
“There’s got to be scope for unexpected news that actually might be positive for the world and not necessarily positive for gold,” he said.
But not everybody is buying gold for purely investment reasons.
In many cultures, the metal is purchased during festivals or given as gifts at celebrations such as weddings.
In India, the annual Diwali festival is believed to be an auspicious occasion to buy precious metals in order to bring on wealth and luck.
According to the US investment bank Morgan Stanley, Indian households held $3.8tn of gold, equivalent to 88.8% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Neighbouring China is the world’s largest single consumer market for gold, with many believing that buying it brings good fortune.
“We often see a seasonal uptick in demand around Chinese New Year, which we are seeing at the moment to an extent,” said Kavalis, referencing the upcoming Year of the Horse, which begins in February.
Two ads promoting British beef and milk have been banned after television presenter and environmental campaigner Chris Packham complained that they misled consumers about the products’ carbon footprints.
Both ads for the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB) Let’s Eat Balanced campaign used the carbon footprint of British beef and milk to promote the products, firstly stating: “British beef not only tastes great, but has a carbon footprint that’s half the global average*.”
The asterisk linked to text that stated: “Full lifecycle emissions of CO2 eq (carbon dioxide equivalent) per kg of beef.”
The ad for milk stated: “British milk not only tastes good, but is also produced to world-class standards, and has a carbon footprint a third lower than the global average.”
Packham complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the ads, and specifically the carbon footprint claims, were misleading as they did not reflect the full environmental impact of British meat and dairy.
The AHDB said the ads’ mention of carbon emissions would be understood in relation to the environmental impact of beef and milk that occurred between the “cradle-to-retail” stages.
But the ASA said the average consumer “being reasonably well-informed, observant and circumspect” would understand the claims to apply beyond the retail stage and include actions such as cooking and wastage.
The ASA said: “While we acknowledged the potential difficulties in producing post-retail emissions data, the claims in the ads suggested those emissions were included and we therefore expected the evidence provided to also include them.
“We therefore concluded that the evidence presented was insufficient to support the full life-cycle claims in the ads, which was how the average consumer was likely to interpret them.
“We reminded AHDB that environmental claims should be based on the full life cycle unless the ad stated otherwise.”
AHDB’s director of communications and market development, Will Jackson, said: “Let’s Eat Balanced is doing what it was designed to do, providing clear, factual, evidence-led information about British food, nutrition and farming standards.
“Since the investigation began, we have conducted independent consumer research which found that the majority of respondents interpreted these adverts as relating to the production phase only, from farm to retail.
“This research provides important insight into consumer understanding and supports our belief that consumers were not misled by the information we shared in these two specific adverts.”
BENGALURU: India’s Gen Z workforce is embracing what experts describe as “portfolio careers” – balancing multiple professional identities and income streams simultaneously. New research from LinkedIn shows that 75% of Gen Z entrepreneurs in India now manage multiple income streams, significantly higher than the 62% among Gen X entrepreneurs. The findings point to a growing preference among younger professionals for flexibility, autonomy and diversified sources of income. “We’re also seeing the rise of the ‘portfolio era’, with more professionals creating multiple income streams and redefining what a career can look like. This shift is making entrepreneurship more accessible than ever before,” said LinkedIn India country manager Kumaresh Pattabiraman.Rather than depending on a single full-time role, many professionals are simultaneously building businesses, freelancing, consulting, creating online content and monetising specialised skills through digital platforms. The trend comes amid a broader rise in entrepreneurial activity in India. LinkedIn recorded a 104% year-on-year increase in members adding “Founder” to their profiles – the highest growth among all global markets.AI is also emerging as a major enabler of this shift. The report found that 85% of Gen Z entrepreneurs consider AI and digital tools important to their business operations.
Sam Altman said Elon Musk tried many times for total control of OpenAI, which he’s now suing.
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