Chinese insurance capital expected to continue to ignite demand, Citigroup raises gold target price to $3500.

In a report released by Citigroup's research department on Thursday, it stated that due to the increased demand for gold by Chinese insurance companies, as well as inflows of hedge funds driven by tariff risks and weak markets, the institution has raised its target price for gold in the next three months from $3200 per ounce to $3500 per ounce. Citigroup stated that China recently approved 10 insurance companies to allocate up to 1% of their total assets to gold, which could bring about an incremental demand of about 255 tons annually, equivalent to about a quarter of the total amount of gold purchased by global central banks. Despite gold prices touching a historical high of $3357 per ounce on Thursday before falling more than 1% (as investors took profit before the long weekend), gold prices are still supported above $3300 per ounce due to a weaker US dollar and escalating tensions in US-China trade. The following are the latest forecasts for gold prices for the years 2025-2026 (in US dollars per ounce):