Gold prices just wrapped up their biggest daily gain since April 2020, when panicked investors were hoarding the precious metal during the Covid market meltdown.

Gold futures rose 3.4%, or $107.90 a troy ounce, Wednesday to settle at $3,326.60, a fresh record.

Futures are up 40% over the past year, blowing past Wall Street's expectations for 2025, but it isn't just nervous investors who are gobbling up gold.

Central banks, particularly those in countries with strained relationships with the U.S., have been stockpiling gold as well. This trend took off in 2022 after Russia was sanctioned by the U.S. and its Western allies following the invasion of Ukraine. Russia, China and other countries have since been putting more of their reserves in non-dollar assets that are out of the reach of foreigners.

"We expect central bank purchases of gold to remain at high levels, with tariffs potentially accelerating the trend of global central banks diversifying their reserves into gold," said Trevor Yates, senior investment analysts at Global X.

Source: WSJ