There's a good reason you've likely been hearing a lot about the gold price lately.
That's because the price of the yellow metal has been going absolutely ballistic. Which has obviously come as good news to investors in ASX gold stocks.
Here's what I mean.
One year ago, you could have bought an ounce of gold for US$2,179.
Earlier today, that same ounce topped US$3,027. Bullion is currently trading for US$3,025 an ounce.
This historic rally sees the gold price up 38.8% in just 12 months!
And it's sent ASX gold stocks soaring, as witnessed by the phenomenal 52.4% one-year gains posted by the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold Index (ASX: XGD).
To put that into some context, the All Ords is up a far slenderer 1.3% over this same period.
As for some of the more popular ASX gold stocks, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST) shares have gained 26.4% in a year; Newmont Corp (ASX: NEM) shares are up 45.4%; Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX: GOR) shares have surged 97.6%; and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) shares are up 88.5% over the 12 months.
Boom!
Bullion has been benefiting from declining interest rates, strong central bank demand, and its classic haven status amid geopolitical and economic uncertainties, spurred in recent months by the flood of tariffs unleashed by US President Donald Trump.
And the blistering rally in the gold price, and by connection for ASX gold stocks, may have a long way to run yet.
Image source: Getty Images
What's next for the gold price?
Goldman Sachs is just one of the major investment banks that just raised its gold price forecast.
As Reuters reports, Goldman has increased its end of 2025 price target to US$3,300 per ounce, up from the prior forecast of US$3,100 per ounce. Goldman also boosted its forecast range to US$3,250 to US$3,520 per ounce.
Goldman Sachs' analysts expect bullion will continue to get support from ongoing central bank buying, particularly in Asia, as well as from stronger than expected inflows into gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The investment bank also expects two 0.25% interest rate cuts from the US Fed in 2025. Gold, which pays no yield itself, tends to perform better in low and falling interest rate environments.
In promising news for investors buying ASX gold stocks, Bank of America (BofA) also just increased its gold price forecast for 2025 and 2026.
Noting the ongoing uncertainty surrounding US global trade policies, BofA expects gold will trade for US$3,063 in 2024 and hit US$3,350 per ounce in 2026.
Michael Widmer, Commodity Strategist at Bank of America, said last month that the gold price could even surge to US$3,500 within the next two years.
"That's a lot, but not impossible," he said, noting this would require a 10% global demand increase for the yellow metal.
If bullion does reach those levels, some 16% above current prices, we could see another year of strong outperformance from ASX gold stocks like Northern Star, Evolution, and Newmont.
