Update: Spot gold traded as high as $1,943.92 per ounce on Monday, surging pass the record high prices set in September 2011.
Spot gold prices soared passed the $1,900 per ounce mark for the first time in nearly 10 years, underscoring the growing demand for safe-haven assets amid the escalating geopolitical tensions and the economic downturn caused by the extended coronavirus pandemic.
Global economic growth has continued to be sluggish, moving at a rate far slower than initially anticipated due to the extended economic effects of the pandemic. The prospect of a swift economic recovery is rapidly becoming a pipedream as most countries are still struggling to go back to pre-pandemic levels of output. The growing tension in the trade war between China and the U.S. is also causing increased concerns, leading to the increased attractiveness of the far safer asset.
The spike in gold prices had also received a massive boost from the low to negative interest rates globally along with the continued weakness of the U.S. dollar. The various factors have caused yields of government bonds to drop to new lows, causing a global investor shift to safe-haven assets such as precious metals.
As of last week, spot gold had rallied for the seventh consecutive week, its longest run since 2011. Prices of other precious metals, such as silver, have also surged. The surge in silver prices even outpaced the growth in gold prices last week, hitting a seven-year high.
On Friday, spot gold inched higher by 0.7 percent, reaching a high of $1,900.19 per ounce in New York. The price is just a few dollars shy away from the commodity's record high of $1,921.17 per ounce recorded back in September 2011. Comex gold futures for deliveries next month rose by 0.4 percent, closing at $1897.50 per ounce. Meanwhile, silver prices rallied by more than 17 percent last week, the most ever recorded on a weekly basis since 1980.
Market strategists at RJO have noted that the rally's pacing is quite unprecedented but somewhat expected. Investors are apparently just buying as much gold as they can with most expecting the dollar to become weaker and for the government to inject more money into their economies to promote economic activity. With Treasury yields slumping to near zero, investors are choosing to buy gold to ensure the safety of their investments.
Analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence predicted that the gold price rally may extend into 2021 given the current state of the global economy. UBS Group AG even raised its near-term forecast for spot gold to exceed $2,000 per ounce by the end of September.
