The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, April 17, edition that National Bank Financial analysts continue to see a "favourable" market backdrop for precious metal prices through the remainder of the year, with several key drivers remaining in place, including "rising levels of sovereign debt, persistent inflation, USD volatility, geopolitical tensions and strong physical demand from central banks/stablecoins." The Globe's David Leeder writes that the National Bank analysts trimmed their gold price assumption for 2026 to $5,000 per ounce from $5,200 previously with their silver projection dipping to $80 per ounce from $90. They reaffirmed their long-term estimates of $3,200 and $42 (all subsequent figures Canadian). The analysts say in a note: "While not anticipated to be that material of an impact on Q1/26 financial results, we are modeling some degree of cost inflation throughout the remainder of the year to account for ongoing unrest in the Middle East. Names with more exposure to these oil price shocks are larger open pit mining operations." The National analysts continue to rate Barrick Mining "outperform." They gave their share target a $2.50 trim to $72.50. Analysts on average target the shares at $81.94.