Gold prices navigated a volatile range between $4,650 and $4,750 per ounce during mid-May 2026, finding support at the $4,700 level as shifting geopolitical conditions, cooling energy prices, and persistent inflation data pulled prices in competing directions. ING analysts projected gold reaching $5,000 per ounce by the fourth quarter of 2026, with longer-term targets extending toward $6,000.
Veteran mining investor Pierre Lassonde offered a more aggressive long-range forecast, citing the US national debt position as a structural driver that could push gold substantially higher over a multi-year horizon. A 2025 World Gold Council survey found 95 percent of central banks expect global gold reserves to rise in 2026, up sharply from 81 percent in 2024 and 52 percent in 2021.
Silver moved above $80 per ounce on May 12, with analysts attributing the climb to a structural shift in global industrial demand. The metal had hit an all-time high of $121.64 on January 29, 2026, before consolidating between $70 and $80 through April. Silver entered 2026 in its sixth consecutive year of global supply deficit, with accumulated above-ground inventory shortfalls estimated at roughly 900 million ounces over the prior five years.
Industrial end-uses account for approximately 60 percent of annual silver consumption, with electronics alone representing demand of about 445 million ounces per year.
Source: IndexBox -- https://www.indexbox.io/blog/precious-metals-update-gold-and-silver-trends-in-may-2026/