1. Total Metals Corp (TSXV:TT, FSE: O4N)
Total Metals Corp. is focused on advancing high-grade gold projects to production.
On the first trading day of 2026, gold and silver prices opened strong due to heightened geopolitical tensions. In early trading Friday, February gold futures on the COMEX last rose by $51 to $4,393 per ounce, while March silver futures surged nearly 3.8%, gaining $2.692 to $73.29 per ounce.
U.S. President Donald Trump warned on social media that the United States would intervene to “rescue” Iranian protesters if the Iranian military attacked peaceful demonstrators. Senior Iranian officials promptly responded, urging the U.S. to “be mindful of their soldiers’ safety.” The sudden escalation of U.S.-Iran tensions stimulated a flow of funds into traditional safe-haven assets.
Analysts noted that while gold and silver are extending their impressive gains from 2025, they are also demonstrating high sensitivity to geopolitical risks. In a highly volatile market environment, safe-haven buying provides immediate support for prices.
Meanwhile, the gold market still faces clear short-term headwinds at the start of 2026. The most direct selling pressure came from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s (CME) announcement before the holidays to raise margin requirements for gold, silver, and other futures contracts. This move forced investors to post additional collateral, triggering significant profit-taking and technical selling in market conditions already weakened by holiday liquidity.
This week, gold prices fell cumulatively by 4%, marking their largest weekly decline since November 2024; silver fell by nearly 9%. Low trading volumes amplified price volatility. Philippe Gijsels, Chief Strategy Officer at BNP Paribas Fortis, pointed out that the precious metals sector is currently “severely overbought” and “a correction of over 10% could happen at any time.”
Next week, market focus will quickly shift to economic data, particularly the U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday. This will be the first “clean” employment data since the 43-day U.S. government shutdown that ended last October. Economists at TD Securities estimate that non-farm payroll growth for December will stabilize around 50,000. Any strong data could reinforce the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance, putting pressure on gold.
Despite facing short-term adjustment pressures, the core logic supporting gold’s long-term bull market has not weakened and may even have strengthened. The continued weakness of the U.S. dollar is a primary favorable factor. The U.S. Dollar Index is currently hovering around 98 points, having fallen approximately 9.5% in 2025, significantly reducing the holding cost for dollar-denominated gold.
Rania Gule, Senior Market Analyst at XS.com, emphasized that the primary catalyst for gold remains the real rates-dollar dynamic. The yield on the 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) is currently around 1.92%, a level that defines the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like gold, and the current environment remains favorable for gold.
The Federal Reserve’s policy path is another major pillar. Three consecutive rate cuts in 2025, along with the announced resumption of Treasury purchases, have been interpreted by the market as a form of quantitative easing. Stephanie Pomboy, President of MacroMavens, believes that balance sheet expansion is outright monetary debasement, and “there’s nothing better for precious metals than that.” She expects that entering 2026, balance sheet expansion will become the main source of monetary stimulus.
Continued central bank gold buying and global geopolitical and economic uncertainties provide solid structural support for gold. Michael Widmer, strategist at Bank of America, noted that the gold market is “still underinvested,” and bull markets typically do not end because they are overbought, but only when the underlying motives that started the bull market have subsided.
Regarding the trend for early 2026, the market consensus is a healthy correction within an uptrend, not a reversal. Christopher Lewis, Senior Market Analyst at FXEmpire, explicitly stated that despite short-term overbought conditions, he remains bullish on buying dips. “It’s just far too strong a market. I don’t think that changes anytime soon, and therefore, I like the idea of buying dips and have no real interest in shorting with this kind of momentum still prevalent.” Based on technical analysis, he pointed out that gold’s medium-to-long-term target is at least $4,900, with the market “pretty hell-bent on trying to get to the $5,000 level,” which could be a phased target.
Bank of America has given a clear gold price forecast of $5,000 per ounce, implying about 14% upside from current levels. However, the bank also warned that any hawkish pivot by the Fed is a key risk.
For investors, the market environment at the start of 2026 indicate increased volatility. Strong employment data could trigger concerns about Fed policy tightening, thereby suppressing gold prices; however, any signs of economic weakness or a resurgence in risk aversion could quickly push funds back into the gold market. According to the prevailing view among analysts, pullbacks are seen as opportunities to enter or add to positions, not signals to exit.
