All That Glitters: Why Gold is Having a Moment

It’s hard to shake the feeling that the world is holding its breath.

The news feels permanently tense, markets flinch at every headline, the phrase “unprecedented times” has long since lost all meaning, and we seem to be waiting for the next thing to tip the balance – whatever that might be. When it starts to feel like that, people tend to drift back to familiar comforts – and right now, that comfort has a very old name: gold.

Gold has just broken through $5,000 an ounce for the first time ever. Not crept. Not nudged. Properly cleared it. And it’s building on an already extraordinary run – last year alone, the price jumped by more than 60 per cent.

Silver, meanwhile, is refusing to be the forgotten relative. And it recently pushed past $100 an ounce, putting it firmly in second place on the commodities leaderboard and capping a rise of nearly 150 per cent over the last year.

Why the Sudden Obsession?

Gold doesn’t soar because everyone’s feeling relaxed. It rallies because they’re not.

Tensions between the US and its allies, noisy trade threats, political uncertainty that refuses to settle, and a general sense that global relations are being run on vibes rather than spreadsheets – all of it feeds straight into demand for so-called safe-haven assets.

Throw in wars that show no sign of ending, markets fretting about whether technology stocks have run too far too fast, and a US dollar that’s lost a bit of its swagger, and the appeal becomes obvious. When confidence wobbles, gold and silver tend to step into the spotlight.

Bonds Are Looking a Bit Less Comforting

Traditionally, this is where government bonds would shine. Sensible. Predictable. Something your parents approved of.

But with inflation still casting a long shadow and interest rates expected to come down again later this year, that safety net doesn’t feel quite as secure. Lower rates make bonds less attractive, which nudges investors towards assets that don’t rely on yields at all.

Gold, in particular, benefits from that dynamic. It’s not tied to a company’s performance, a government’s balance sheet, or anyone else’s promise to pay. Silver shares some of that appeal, with the added twist that it’s also used in everything from electronics to solar panels – giving it a foot in both the fear camp and the future-facing one.

Closer to Home

In the UK, this shift shows up in small, familiar ways. High-street jewellers talk about more people asking what old chains or inherited rings might be worth. “Cash for gold” adverts – long thought consigned to daytime-TV nostalgia – start to feel oddly current again.

But for most people, the interest doesn’t go much further than that. Very few are actually lugging bullion home or installing a safe. Instead, those who do want exposure tend to do it quietly, using simple investment products that track the price of gold or silver and sit alongside everything else they already own. These rise and fall with the metal price and can be held inside a stocks and shares ISA, which makes them easier to hold and manage alongside other investments.

Some people also get exposure indirectly, through funds or companies linked to gold and silver rather than the metals themselves. In almost all cases, the motivation is the same: not to bet big, not to overhaul a portfolio, but to add a small layer of protection in case things get worse.

Scarcity Helps the Story

Part of gold’s enduring allure is how little of it there actually is.

According to the World Gold Council, all the gold ever mined would fit into just a handful of Olympic-sized swimming pools. Mining technology has improved, and more can still be extracted, but supply growth is expected to slow over time. Scarce things tend to look more attractive when the world feels unstable.

It’s Not Just Investors Buying

This isn’t only a Western markets story.

Central banks have been quietly adding to their gold reserves, while cultural demand remains strong. In countries like India and China, gold isn’t just an investment – it’s woven into festivals, weddings and ideas of good fortune. Morgan Stanley estimates that Indian households alone hold trillions of dollars’ worth of gold, a figure that tends to surprise people every single time.

Silver doesn’t carry quite the same ceremonial weight, but its recent surge suggests it’s benefiting from many of the same forces – plus growing industrial demand.

The Last Word

This rush into gold – with silver close behind – isn’t really about optimism.

It’s about reassurance. When metals that generate no income and tell no growth story suddenly look irresistible, it usually says more about how people feel about everything else. The rally may continue, or it may cool just as quickly. But for now, the message is unmistakable: uncertainty is in demand – and precious metals are pricing it in.