By Alex Kozul-Wright

In a world dominated by geopolitical uncertainty, tariffs and elevated public debt, its no surprise that investors have flocked to haven assets like gold. That surge has directly benefited the companies pulling it out of the ground.

Gold continuous futures surged past the $5,000 milestone Monday, jumping 2.2% to $5,089. The yellow metal has climbed 83% over the past 12 months.

Gold miners, in turn, have picked up the baton. In premarket trading, SSR Mining was up 4.8%, while Newmont and Freeport-McMoRan climbed 4.3% and 4%, respectively.

Higher gold prices typically increase mining companies' revenue and margins. Looking ahead, expectations of a sustained gold rally look set to encourage even greater equity inflows into major miners.

"The combination of a softer dollar, persistent geopolitical tension and ongoing diversification flows away from U.S. assets continues to fuel the [gold] rally," said Neil Walsh, head of metals at Britannia Global Markets.

With global financial markets already jittery on the back of recent foreign policy interventions by the Trump administration, growing fears of another U.S. government shutdown have amplified gold's recent gains.

Over the weekend, Democrats threatened to block a federal funding package -- which expires on Jan.31 -- following the fatal shooting of U.S. citizen in Minneapolis by a federal agent. That could lead to a partial shutdown.

As political uncertainty across the world persists, the price of gold -- together with the share prices of major mining companies -- look set to increase.

Write to Alex Kozul-Wright at alexander.kozul-wright@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 26, 2026 07:36 ET (12:36 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.