According to Afdhal Rahman, OCBC’s executive director of wealth advisory, the oil and energy crisis triggered by the West Asia conflict has implications for the price of gold. “Gold enjoyed a powerful rally earlier this year, only for momentum to stall and fade amid the Iran war,” he says. “It seemed counter-intuitive at the time, that a war would lead to a retracement in the price of the yellow metal.”
Gold prices gained more than 60% y-o-y to above US$4,300 ($5,532) per ounce, reaching a new record high 53 times in 2025. In contrast, the gold rush this year so far, particularly after January, seems to have encountered stumbling blocks.
The year started well for the precious metal, with prices breaching US$5,000 for the first time to reach a record intraday high of US$5,589.38 on Jan 28. Since then, gold prices have been on a downward trend despite its safe haven status amid geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties. As at June 10, it is trading below US$4,100.
