LBMA 2026: Central banks aren’t done with gold as geopolitical risks reshape reserves – Bundesbank’s Nagel - Kitco

Speaking at the LBMA 2026 conference, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel indicated that central banks are not finished adding gold to their reserves, framing the metal as a hedge against geopolitical risk rather than a short-term trade. His remarks suggest that official-sector demand, which has underpinned gold prices in recent years, may persist as institutions reassess how reserves are structured in a more fragmented world.

For markets, the significance lies in what central bank buying represents: a slower-moving, price-insensitive source of demand that can influence the floor under gold rather than its daily swings. When reserve managers cite geopolitical risk as a driver, it implies allocation decisions tied to long-term resilience, not to inflation prints or rate expectations alone. That can make gold less responsive to purely cyclical signals.

What to watch is whether Nagel's comments are echoed by other reserve managers and whether they translate into continued official-sector purchases. Also worth monitoring is how gold behaves relative to real yields and the dollar if this demand holds, since that relationship helps gauge whether geopolitics is genuinely reshaping reserve strategy.