Metals On Fire: Gold To Hit $5,000, Silver $100 In Next Three Months, Citi Forecasts

Multinational investment bank Citigroup upgraded its near-term price forecast for gold and silver. Analysts expect gold to hit $5,000 per ounce silver to surge to $100 per ounce in the next three months.

They expect the bull market in precious metals to stay intact in the near term amid heightened geopolitical risks, ongoing physical market shortages in the case of silver, and renewed uncertainty on the independence of the US Federal Reserve.

"We upgrade our near-term price forecasts across the precious metals complex as investment momentum remains strong and the multitude of bullish drivers are now likely to remain intact during 1Q26," a Citi note said.

The gold price forecast implies an upside of 9% over the current level of $4,589. For silver, it indicates a likely jump of 17% by April.

Citi said its longstanding call for silver to outperform, and for the precious metals bull market to broaden into industrial metals, has delivered well. The bank highlighted that copper has gained 26% over the past three months, aluminium by 15%, and silver by 60%.

The analysts also pointed to persistent physical market tightness, particularly in silver and platinum group metals, noting that delays and uncertainty around upcoming Critical Minerals Section 232 tariff decisions in the US pose “large binary risks on trade flows and prices.”

In a high-tariff scenario, Citi warned that shortages could worsen temporarily as metal is shipped into the US, potentially triggering extreme price spikes.

Beyond the March quarter, Citi’s base case assumes easing geopolitical tensions will reduce hedging demand for precious metals later in the year, with gold most exposed. At the same time, the bank continues to expect industrial metals, particularly aluminium and copper, to perform well.

"We still expect a neutral to slightly stronger US dollar with Fed political independence maintained... A US goldilocks growth scenario could also see less portfolio hedging demand and outflows from precious metals to cyclical/risky assets such as equities, and continued gold price underperformance against silver, PGMs, and base metals, which enjoy more positive beta to growth," the note said.