XAU/USD: Gold Kicks Off New Year Steady After Comfortably Beating Stocks in 2024

Precious metal outperformed the broad-based S&P 500 by a fairly wide margin. Now, it’s off to the races again.

• Gold prices XAUUSD advanced to start Thursday trading with traders bidding up for the second day in a row. The precious metal rose to a session high of $2,635 per ounce, starting the new year on an upbeat note and flexing a comfortable gain in 2024. Last year’s rise showed that gold is not out of the picture when it comes to outsized returns. Gold bugs had a cause for celebration as it outperformed US stocks.
• In 2024, gold powered higher by 27% while the broad-based S&P 500 advanced 23%. Both asset classes had lots of things going for them but the shiny one was the pick of those looking for a safe haven to park their cash amid war tensions, inflation pressures and geopolitical tremors. It was also a top choice of global central banks which were on an almost constant gold-buying frenzy throughout the year.
• Now gold is looking attractive to investors who want to protect their portfolio against rekindled inflation due to Donald Trump’s economy-boosting policies. But also, war jitters and international conflicts aren’t in the rearview yet, prompting market participants to keep tabs on gold as a quick way to find a safe place to wait out potential uncertainties. Investment banks are also bullish on gold with Goldman Sachs slapping a $3,000 price target by the end of this year.