2 days Ago By Stjepan Kalinic
Gold surged past $3,100, setting a new intra-day high on Monday morning at $3,128 per ounce. Investors rush to safe-haven assets amid escalating trade tensions and uncertainty surrounding U.S.
tariff policies, including President Donald Trump's proposed 25% tariffs on imported cars and auto parts and a new round of reciprocal tariffs set to take effect on April 2 . "Tariff issues will continue driving (gold) prices higher until there is some finality to the tit-for-tat campaign," Edward Meier said per Reuters. The yellow metal gained nearly 19% in 2025, propped by geopolitical concerns and central bank demand.
Over the last 15 years, foreign ownership of US treasuries has converged with gold as a percent of central bank reserves. Treasury ownership sank from 25%, while gold reserves rose from 7% to reach the 15% mark. As gold continues to break records, major financial institutions have revised their price forecasts upward.
Goldman Sachs expects it to reach $3,300 per ounce by the end of the year, up from its previous target of $3,100. Bank of America sees the yellow metal at $3,063 per ounce in 2025 and $3,350 per ounce in 2026, a significant increase from earlier projections of $2,750 and $2,625, respectively. Macquarie has similarly pointed to strong central bank demand and investor inflows as key drivers behind gold's bullish trend.
Despite silver's solid performance, it has not yet exceeded the high from last October, when it traded at $34.78 per ounce. The gold-to-silver ratio, a popular measure of metal's relative performance, has widened, reflecting gold's stronger momentum.
It now takes 91 ounces of silver to purchase one ounce of gold, suggesting silver may be undervalued . Historically, traders use this ratio to determine whether to favor gold or silver in their portfolios. When the ratio is high, some investors buy silver, expecting it to outperform gold in the future.
Conversely, when the ratio is low, they may shift holdings into gold. Still, pursuing this strategy doesn't require physical exchange and storage of metal. Trading the ratio is convenient through specialized ETFs that offer exposure to metals.
SPDR Gold Shares GLD and iShares Gold Trust IAU provide direct exposure to gold, while iShares Silver Trust SLV is a popular option for silver investors. A trader would buy the gold ETF when the ratio is at the lower historical levels and eventually swap for a stake in silver when it gets high. More aggressive strategies might employ leveraged ETFs like ProShares Ultra Gold UGL and ProShares Ultra Silver AGQ , which correspond to double the daily performance of the underlying benchmark.
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