Gold vs S&P 500 chart

The story the chart tells

• 2000s: gold soared while stocks went nowhere through two crashes, the dot-com bust and 2008.
• 2011–2015: gold fell by over a third from its 2011 peak as stocks recovered.
• 2016–2021: stocks led, with gold catching up in the 2020 scramble for safety.
• 2022–2026: central bank buying and rate swings sent gold to records, peaking near $5,590 in January 2026.

Use the range buttons to see how different the answer to “which did better?” is, depending on where you start.

Comparing them fairly

• Dividends: stocks pay them, gold doesn’t. With dividends reinvested, the S&P line would be noticeably higher.
• Risk: both have had deep falls. Gold fell about 45% from 2011 to 2015; the S&P fell over 50% in 2007–2009.
• Role: many investors hold both, because gold has often held up when stocks fell hardest.

Questions

Has gold beaten the S&P 500?

It depends on the start date. Since 2000 gold has done well, partly because stocks started near a peak. Over most long periods with dividends included, stocks have returned more.

Is the S&P 500 line including dividends?

No, it’s the index price only, as most charts show. Dividends would add roughly 1.5–2% a year.

Why use gold futures for history?

They have a clean monthly record back to 2000. The live price above is spot gold, which trades a little below futures.