Wells Fargo's Latest Gold Price Forecast: Wait Patiently for the Decline and Buy, It Will Hit a New High of $3,600 Next Year

According to Wells Fargo's mid-2025 outlook report, precious metals will continue to benefit from geopolitical conflicts and economic uncertainties, with gold prices expected to hit a record high of $3,600 per ounce in 2026.

Analysts noted in the report that the significant correction in commodity prices presents attractive opportunities later this year and into 2026. Additionally, they anticipate that improvements in the US economic conditions later in 2025 will drive growth in commodity demand.

Wells Fargo recommends that investors pivot to sectors that may benefit from an improving macro environment, such as energy or precious metals, and adjust their portfolios to hedge against policy and geopolitical uncertainties.

Exercise patience

Wells Fargo emphasized in the report that rapid changes in economic policies over the past few months have disrupted investors and capital markets. Since the 2024 US elections, uncertainty surrounding US economic policies has continued to escalate, primarily due to tariff volatility, with recent uncertainties surpassing those during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Analysts highlighted that these uncertainties are expected to continue driving gold prices higher over the next two years, as private investors and global central banks will continue to purchase gold. By 2026, central banks alone are expected to account for 21% of global gold demand.

Meanwhile, US short-term interest rates are expected to decline in 2026, and the US dollar is also expected to rebound mildly, which will further strengthen the upward trend in precious metal prices. However, analysts also caution that investor optimism about precious metals' rise has reached levels historically preceding significant corrections, leading them to prefer exercising patience and waiting for price dips before buying.

The bank expects gold prices to pull back slightly to a range of $3,000 to $3,200 by the end of this year, with the outlook for gold prices rising to $3,600 per ounce by the end of 2026.

Analysts also recommend that investors focus on quality factors rather than speculative assets and diversify their portfolios through commodities like precious metals, which may outperform broader market indices.

Chantelle Schieven, Managing Director of Capitalight Research, also believes that due to the resilience of the US economy and labour market, gold prices may stagnate throughout the summer but will oscillate near high levels.

However, considering the inflationary impact of tariffs, she expects the US to face stagflation risks over the next two years, which will support gold prices.