Business & Economics
Gold Smashes $5,000/Oz Threshold, Dragging Silver and Platinum to Record Highs
On 26 Jan 2026, spot gold closed above the $5,000 psychological ceiling for the first time, capping a multi-day surge that also propelled silver past $100 and platinum to fresh peaks amid intensifying geopolitical frictions and a sliding U.S. dollar.
Focusing Facts
- Spot gold hit an intraday record of $5,092.71 per ounce at 03:23 GMT on 26 Jan 2026 (COMEX February futures $5,079.30).
- Spot silver reached $109.44/oz on 26 Jan after first cracking $100 on 23 Jan, bringing its 2026 year-to-date gain to 51 %.
- China’s central bank added to its reserves for the 14th straight month in Dec 2025, part of a 64 % gold price jump that year.
Context
Commodity spikes are often punctuation marks in periods of political doubt: gold vaulted from $35 to $850 between 1971–1980 as Bretton Woods collapsed and oil shocks roiled markets, and it touched $1,900 in 2011 during the euro-area debt panic. Today’s breach of $5,000 echoes those episodes but in a world where real yields are persistently low, central banks from Beijing to Brasília are diversifying away from the dollar, and algorithmic trading accelerates momentum once key psychological levels fall. Whether tariffs over Greenland or threats against Canadian trade endure, the underlying story is a century-long drift toward multipolar reserves and periodic crises of confidence in fiat systems. If gold at $5k proves sticky, it will signal that the 50-year experiment of dollar hegemony is entering a new chapter; if it quickly retraces, the move may be remembered like the 1980 spike—spectacular, brief, and ultimately a footnote. Either way, the crossing is a data-point in the slow renegotiation of what the world accepts as money.
Perspectives
Asian financial business media
e.g., The Economic Times, Business Standard — Frame the $5,000-plus gold price primarily as a reaction to macro-economic forces—weak dollar, expected Fed rate cuts, and robust retail demand—and treat the rally as a trading set-up requiring cautious, data-driven strategy. By foregrounding rate-cut bets and offering investment tips, these outlets cater to their investor readership and may downplay the political turmoil angle that could unsettle regional markets they cover.
Western and international outlets sharply critical of the Trump administration
e.g., Honolulu Star-Advertiser, SBS — Portray gold’s surge as a vote of no confidence in U.S. leadership, stressing that President Trump’s abrupt Greenland, Canada and France tariff threats have driven investors to seek refuge in bullion. Emphasising Trump’s ‘erratic’ behaviour reinforces a partisan narrative and may over-attribute the metal’s rise to politics while underplaying monetary or supply-demand fundamentals.
Regional outlets in the Middle East and South Asia targeting retail savers
e.g., Ammonnews, ProPakistani — Highlight the record price as proof that gold remains the ultimate safe-haven during escalating geopolitical risks, urging local investors to monitor or buy as currencies wobble. By spotlighting gold’s protective qualities for domestic audiences, these publications risk hyping the metal and encouraging herd buying that benefits local bullion dealers and advertisers.