Gold blasts past $5,500/oz to record high on safe-haven demand

Gold Price Surge and Market Dynamics

By Anushree Mukherjee

Factors Driving Gold Prices

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Spot gold jumped to a record above $5,500 an ounce on Thursday, extending a blistering rally as investors piled into the safe-haven metal amid geopolitical and economic uncertainties, while silver also notched an all-time high.

Geopolitical Influences on Gold Market

Spot gold was up 2.9% at $5,554.76 an ounce, as of 2343 GMT, after hitting a record $5,591.61 earlier in the day.

Investor Behavior and Trends

Prices broke the $5,000 mark for the first time on Monday and have gained more than $500 over four sessions.

"The gains are fuelled by sustained central bank buying, relentless momentum from trend-following funds, and strong flight-to-quality demand," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.

"Although the parabolic nature of the rally suggests a pullback is not far away, the underlying fundamentals are expected to remain supportive throughout 2026, positioning any dips as attractive buying opportunities."

Geopolitical tensions persisted after U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran on Wednesday to come to the table and make a deal on nuclear weapons or the next U.S. attack would be far worse.

Tehran responded with a threat to strike back against the U.S., Israel and those who support them.

On the policy front, the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to leave rates unchanged on Wednesday, as widely expected.

After the statement, traders boosted their bets that the Fed would cut short-term borrowing costs in June - but not before then.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said inflation in December was likely still well above the central bank's 2% target.

Gold, a traditional hedge against uncertainty and inflation, also benefits from low interest rates as a non-yielding asset. The metal has gained more than 25% so far this year, after rising 64% in 2025.

Meanwhile, with gold prices setting new all-time highs this week, customers have been cramming into stores in Shanghai and Hong Kong that sell the precious metal, with some betting the price could rise even further.

Spot silver was up 1.5% at $118.36 an ounce after hitting a record high of $119.34 earlier.

Spot platinum rose 0.1% to $2,697.54 an ounce, after hitting a record $2,918.80 on Monday, while palladium rose 0.5% to $2,091.15 an ounce.

(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese, Shreya Biswas and Subhranshu Sahu)