Gold Bull Run May Stay Intact As JPMorgan Projects Price Crossing $5,000 An Ounce In 2026

Gold continued its upward trend with the metal rising over 1% on Thursday. JP Morgan expects the bull run to stay intact with the price to reach an average $5,055 per ounce by the end of the fourth quarter of 2026.

The forecast is based on the back of rising investors demand and central bank buying that is expected to average at nearly 566 tons of the metal in a quarter of 2026. "Gold remains our highest conviction long for the year, and we see further upside as the market enters a Fed rate-cutting cycle," Natasha Kaneva, Head of Global Commodities Strategy at JP Morgan, said in a note accessed by Reuters.

According to another analyst Gregory Shearer, Head of Base and Precious Metals Strategy, JP Morgan, the combination of US Federal Reserve cutting the cycle "with overlays of stagflation anxiety", concerns surrounding Fed independence and the broader debasement hedging is helping the golds upward move.

The bank also noted that the rally is not a de-dollarisation or a debasement story. According to the analysts it is a story of dollar diversification, highlighting that the foreign holders are slowly moving towards gold through small allocations.

JPMorgan also highlighted that recent market consolidation in healthy as the pullback reflects the market digesting the fast gain in price since August. Explaining the steep rise Kaneva said that the story is simple, there are lots of buyers, however, there are no sellers.

She also reiterated that the long-term target is of $6,000 per ounce by 2028. She further stressed that gold should be viewed on a multi-year horizon.

Spot gold in this year alone has hit multiple record highs with the latest high being on Monday at $4,381.21. This indicates a 57% rise year-to-date and it also shows that the stage is set for its strongest annual performance since 1979.