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Parts of the financial market linked to hard assets and tangible items appear to be settling into what could become a prolonged boom — bolstered by their ability to hold their value over time, resist trading fluctuations and act as a hedge against future inflation.
Commodity markets are at the center of much of this action, with shares of materials
XX:SP500.15 and energy XX:SP500.10 stocks within the S&P 500 index SPX up by 6.4% and 4.3%, respectively, since the start of the year. Also doing well so far in 2026 are precious metals such as gold GC00 and silver SI00, which have climbed almost 3.7% and 12.4%, respectively, so far in January following torrid run-ups of 64% and 141% in 2025.
