Central bank demand has been a key factor behind gold’s historic rally since late 2022, but that trade could be coming to an end—at least for the foreseeable future—as the war in Iran forces policymakers to prioritize energy security and economic stability over reserve diversification. This shift in priorities comes at a particularly fragile moment for the gold market. Prices have just experienced their sharpest weekly decline since the 1980s, following what U.S. Bank Wealth Management Senior Investment Strategist Rob Haworth described as a speculative blow-off top earlier this year. After hitting all-time highs in ... (full story)