Gold for June delivery on the COMEX settled at $3,838.20 per ounce on Wednesday, fractionally below Tuesday's record close of $3,841.40. The metal has rallied 18.4% year-to-date, decisively outpacing the S&P 500's 4.6% return, as central-bank reserve diversification and Iran-conflict hedging have powered a sustained bid. Silver rose 0.8% to $36.42 per ounce and platinum gained 0.4% to $1,184.
The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) added $312 million of net inflows on Wednesday, bringing six-day cumulative inflows to $1.4 billion. Combined assets across gold-backed ETFs reached $312 billion, the highest on record. Iron-fist demand has come from Chinese, Indian, and Polish central banks, which have collectively added 187 metric tons of bullion in Q1 according to World Gold Council data released Tuesday.
The FOMC Read-Through
Gold typically trades inversely to real yields. The 10-year TIPS yield held flat at 1.94% post-FOMC, removing an immediate downside catalyst. The Fed's shift to "two-sided risks" language and Powell's acknowledgment that "the next move is genuinely contingent" was interpreted by the bullion market as removing an immediate hike threat that could have lifted real yields and pressured prices.
Goldman Sachs commodity strategist Lina Thomas raised the bank's 12-month gold price target to $4,200 per ounce from $3,950, citing "structural central-bank demand and rising fiscal-dominance concerns." Thomas estimated that if global central banks hold gold reserves at the same share as in 1980 versus today, the implied price would be above $5,000.