Gold Kisses Record Again as Banks Chase $4K Calls Into Year-End

Gold has new swagger this week, hovering near records while big banks sharpen their pencils and nudge targets higher.

Spot gold has settled around $3,759 per troy ounce on Sunday, Sept. 28, after tagging $3,783 two days ago on Sept. 26—a fresh peak that has bullion fans talking.

Wall Street’s base case is simple: softer rates, stubborn central bank demand, and jumpy geopolitics keep a sturdy bid under the metal. JPMorgan maps a steady glide path into Q4 at about $3,675 on average, with 2026 flirting with $4,000.

Goldman Sachs keeps the swagger, sticking a $3,700 year-end pin on 2025 and sketching upside toward $4,500 if flows stay hot. UBS and Morgan Stanley both circle $3,800 into December, arguing the buyers’ club is still growing.

Gold price on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. Deutsche Bank recently lifted its 2026 average to $4,000 after 2025’s strength effectively met its $3,700 mark early. Bank of America bumped its 2025 average to roughly $3,500 and flags a $4,000 line next year if cuts bite.

Not everyone is pounding the table. Citigroup frames a cautious $3,800 three-month target and a full-year range that leaves room for digestion. Commerzbank parks at $3,600 into year-end, rising to $3,800 in 2026 as heat relents.

On the survey front, Bullionvault users see about $3,679 by December, while LBMA-polled analysts cluster closer to $3,159—call it optimism versus orthodoxy. ING and HSBC also play it cool, with quarterlies and ranges that lean conservative.

Asia’s appetite keeps the wild card energy. ANZ pins $3,800 into year-end and $4,000 by mid-2026, while TD Securities says a $4,000 handle in the coming months is feasible and a melt-up emerges if China steps harder on the buy pedal. TD also noted a strong sell-off could sway precious metals markets.

The long arc still bends higher in many models. World Bank math tied to this year’s jump implies lofty averages, and longer-horizon shops scatter between the low $4,000s and possibly mid-$5,000s by 2027, weather permitting.

Risk check: stronger real yields, a perkier dollar, or a hotter-than-expected inflation print could knock momentum and invite profit-taking from momentum chasers and ETFs. Miners also tend to trade with more beta, magnifying reversals.

That’s why several houses keep scenarios, not singular destinies, on the whiteboard—flexibility beats bravado when policy and politics are still tossing curveballs. Into year-end positioning. Prudently.