Gold has pushed deeper into record territory this week as investors hunt for safety amid fresh political and policy uncertainty in the United States with President Donald Trump’s latest tariff plans and budget brinkmanship reviving fears of a broader sell America trade.
Spot gold first cracked the US$5,000 mark on Monday, January 26 and then jumped again the next day to a fresh high of about US$5,182 an ounce.
Markets have since kept driving the price higher with gold near US$5,600 an ounce on Thursday, January 29.
The immediate catalysts have been a familiar mix of trade threats and Washington dysfunction. Concerns rose after Trump flagged new tariffs on South Korean imports while the risk of a partial US government shutdown hung over markets ahead of a January 30 funding deadline.
Traders have also been watching the Federal Reserve closely with renewed talk about the central bank’s independence feeding into demand for assets seen as protection against policy shocks.
The World Gold Council says the move into bullion has become a dominant global theme. Its latest Gold Demand Trends report put total gold demand in 2025 at a record 5,002 tonnes with investment demand surging 84% to a record 2,175 tonnes helped by strong inflows into gold backed exchange traded funds.
The Australian dollar hit a new three year peak this week helped by the jump in gold prices which matter for a country that exports large volumes of the metal.
Strategists describing gold as overbought and vulnerable to a pullback even as dip buying continues to surface.
For now the message from markets is clear that the bigger the questions around US policy and trust, the more investors seem willing to pay for insurance.
