PANews reported on January 22 that Goldman Sachs has raised its year-end gold price forecast to $5,400 per ounce, citing continued strong demand from private investors and central banks. Analysts, including Daan Struyven, wrote in a report that they raised their December 2026 target price from the previous $4,900 per ounce, expecting central banks to purchase 60 tons of gold per month this year, while ETF gold holdings will continue to expand as the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates. They stated that central banks "have begun competing with private sector investors for limited physical gold supplies through traditional ETF investments." The report indicated that it assumes diversified private sector investors will continue to hold gold, and their purchases will offset global policy risks, thus driving the upward revision of the price forecast. These investors are not expected to sell their gold holdings in 2026, which effectively raises the starting point for the price forecast. Julia Du, senior commodities strategist at ICBC Standard Bank, believes that gold prices will rise to $7,150 per ounce.


