Central Banks Still Want More Gold, Even After the Rally

What happened

Gold has spent much of June wrestling with the same uncomfortable question: after such a huge run, is the metal still worth chasing?

Today's answer from central banks was unusually clear. The World Gold Council's 2026 reserve survey found that 89% of reserve managers expect global central-bank gold holdings to rise over the next 12 months. More strikingly, a record 45% expect their own institution to increase gold reserves too.

That matters because central banks are not momentum traders. They are usually slow, cautious buyers, and they think in reserve cycles rather than price ticks. So when nearly half of surveyed reserve managers say they still want more gold after this year's volatile rally, the message is not "gold is cheap." It is that gold is becoming harder to leave out of the reserve mix.

Why this matters

The reasons were familiar, but the weighting was telling. Crisis performance, long-term store of value and diversification topped the list. The dollar side of the story was just as important: 74% of respondents said they expect the dollar's share of global reserves to be lower five years from now.

This does not remove gold's short-term valuation problem. Comex gold settled around $4,330.90 today, barely higher on the session and still well below January's peak. Higher real yields, a firmer dollar or another change in Fed expectations can still make non-yielding gold look expensive in the short run.

But the survey gives the market a different kind of support level. Not a chart line, and not a day-trader target. It shows that official buyers still see gold as strategic insurance, even at prices that would have looked extreme a few years ago.

What this means for readers

For everyday investors, the takeaway is simple: gold's next move may still depend on the Fed, the dollar and inflation data. But the bigger valuation story is that central banks keep treating gold less like a trade and more like infrastructure.