US-Iran talks expected to heat up, gold weekly rebound exceeds 2%, institutions remain bullish on long-term trend

Breaking News from Mars Finance, on May 9th, the Strait of Hormuz blockade has lasted over 70 days, and market expectations for progress in US-Iran negotiations have increased, driving gold prices to rebound quickly after falling below $4,500 per ounce. Spot gold reached a weekly high of $4,764.73 per ounce, up approximately 2.15%.
Although geopolitical tensions have eased marginally, global funds continue to flow into gold assets. The World Gold Council data shows that in April, global physical gold ETF net inflows reached $6.6 billion, ending previous outflows; Asian market gold ETFs have experienced net inflows for eight consecutive months.
Meanwhile, China’s central bank continued to increase gold holdings by 260k ounces in April, marking the 18th consecutive month of accumulation.
Many institutions believe that the long-term support logic for gold remains unchanged. Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio stated that under the cycle of expanding global sovereign debt and currency devaluation, gold remains an important store of wealth.
Goldman Sachs predicts that by the end of 2026, gold prices could rise to $5,400 per ounce, while UBS expects it could approach $5,900 per ounce by year-end. Bank of America maintains a target price of $6,000 per ounce over the next 12 months.
Analysts point out that if US-Iran tensions further ease, short-term safe-haven demand may weaken, but falling oil prices, increased Federal Reserve easing expectations, and continued central bank gold purchases worldwide could still provide medium- to long-term support for gold.