For decades, gold followed a familiar rhythm. Prices rose when fear spiked, fell when calm returned. When gold rallied too far, supply or selling pressure would bring it back down. That framework is now breaking. According to a Goldman Sachs report released Thursday, gold has entered a new phase. Private-sector buyers — not just central banks — are becoming a structural force in price formation. For that reason, the investment bank lifted its December 2026 gold forecast from $4,900 to $5,400 an ounce. ...

Gold (GC=F) hovered near record territory above $4,870 on Thursday as Goldman Sachs analysts raised their price target on the precious metal, citing private sector investors jumping into the rally. “We raise our Dec2026 gold price forecast to $5,400/toz (vs. $4,900 prior) because the key upside risk we have flagged—private sector diversification into gold—has started to realize,” Goldman’s Daan Struyven and his team said in a note on Wednesday night. The analysts predict that private sector buyers divers ...