Gold prices expected to surge when interest rates fall

Gold prices are up 58% in the last five years but have not outpaced the S&P 500 in performance for investors.

As investors await potential interest rate cuts later in 2024, the price of precious metals such as gold and silver could surge this year, according to a report by CNBC. 

Citing data provided by UBS, CNBC reported the price of gold per ounce could hit $2,200 by the end of the year. Gold per ounce started on Monday at $2,038 per ounce. Its value surged between 2019 and 2021, going from about $1,300 an ounce five years ago to roughly $1,900 an ounce three years ago. 

Silver opened Monday being traded at $22.68 per ounce. The price of silver has actually declined slightly since the onset of the pandemic after undergoing a major spike in the middle of 2020. 

Silver prices surged in the years following the great recession, reaching highs of $45 per ounce in 2012. 

Upcoming changes to interest rates, currently at a 23-year high, could reflect major changes in gold and silver prices, an analyst told CNBC.