Gold Up 60% Since Last Akshaya Tritiya, Buy Now?

Gold has risen nearly 60% since the last Akshaya Tritiya, pushing the metal to the center of portfolio conversations ahead of this year's festival buying season. The surge reflects a confluence of drivers: sustained central bank accumulation, elevated sovereign debt levels globally, and geopolitical risk premiums tied to tensions in the Middle East, including uncertainty around Iran. Those structural buyers have provided a durable floor under prices that short-term sentiment swings have struggled to break. The near-term picture, however, is less straightforward. Interest rate uncertainty remains a live variable, gold carries no yield, so its relative appeal compresses when rate expectations firm. The path to further gains by 2027 depends heavily on whether central bank buying continues at current pace and whether geopolitical risk premiums persist or unwind. For buyers entering around Akshaya Tritiya, the practical question is sizing: gold reads more cleanly as a portfolio hedge than a momentum trade at current levels, with structural tailwinds intact but near-term upside contingent on macro variables outside any single investor's forecast range.