Since the fighting began in late February, gold has experienced a volatile downtrend, falling from roughly $5,274/oz to roughly $4,160/oz by late July. Likely, yellow metal investors never saw the decline coming, especially since gold prices reached an all-time high of $5,500 in January 2026. Since then, it's been all downhill as gold's price fell by more than 20% due to a bruising combination of volatile geopolitical tension and a robust U.S. dollar.
Must Read
-
Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one
-
Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake — here's what it is and 3 simple steps to fix it ASAP
-
Millionaires under 43 hold only 25% of their wealth in stocks. Here's where their money is actually going
Three things to know about gold investing that impact your portfolio
On the upside, gold's year-to-year price performance is up 20%, which slightly outpaces the 19% returned by the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, which suggests gold will rebound once its main thorn — the U.S.-Iran conflict — is removed.
Until then, gold bugs primarily have two options — sit the slide out until the Iran affair disappears or buy gold cheap on the dip. Here's a closer look at why gold is down right now, but should rise again if you don't mind waiting.
Big buyers and sellers move commodities markets
It's not only the Iran issue that's keeping gold down. Just like the stock market, buy and sell cycles can have a major impact on sector prices, and that's what investors have seen over the past several months.
"The selling reports got blown out of proportion," David Han, founder of AIStockWire.com, told Moneywise. "Turkey sold 60 tons in March that made headlines, and for a quarter the buying looked stalled. But the newer tracking shows central banks back to buying around 50 tons a month."
Read More: 7 top habits of 'quietly wealthy' Americans. How many do you follow?
Gold-buying countries have spent ten years reducing how much they depend on the dollar, but one fiscal quarter doesn't undo a ten-year plan. "For the long run, that's the buyer I care about, because when the price drops they don't sell, they usually buy more," Han noted.
Opportunity awaits patient investors
It's a confusing time for gold investors, as high economic and geopolitical strife usually give gold a boost, but not this year.
"People are acting like gold failed at its job, and I get the confusion, as war starts, gold drops, and that seems backward," Han said. "But gold ran to 5,595 in January before the war even started, so the scared money had already bought in."