Gold has maintained elevated prices above $4,500 per troy ounce in May 2026, trading near all-time highs reached earlier this year as the US-Iran conflict continues to sustain significant safe-haven demand. While the metal briefly pulled back from its April peak above $4,600 amid the early ceasefire talks, prices have found strong support as uncertainty persists over the durability of the proposed 60-day truce.

Silver has tracked gold’s strength, with both metals benefiting from what analysts describe as the “debasement trade” — a broad investor preference for hard assets amid concerns about fiscal deficits, geopolitical instability, and currency purchasing power erosion. With the S&P 500 simultaneously at record highs, the co-movement of equities and precious metals reflects a bifurcated market: investors are hedging geopolitical risk with gold while simultaneously deploying capital into AI-driven growth assets.

Central banks across Asia and the Middle East have continued to accumulate gold reserves throughout the current period of elevated geopolitical risk, providing structural demand support beneath spot prices. In particular, central banks in China, India, and several Gulf states have maintained or accelerated their gold purchase programmes as dollar-denominated reserve diversification strategies.

For commodity traders and investors tracking precious metals, the key question heading into June is whether a formalised Iran nuclear deal — if eventually achieved — would prompt a sustained pullback in gold prices as risk appetite improves globally. Most analysts expect the safe-haven premium to persist until there is tangible, verified progress on Iran’s nuclear programme, which remains a multi-month process at minimum.