Gold prices will keep hitting new record highs as the classic flight-to-safety asset shines bright for investors rattled by an increasingly uncertain global status quo.
That’s the take from analysts watching the yellow metal soar.
Bullion futures (GC=F) inched towards US$2,900 per ounce on Wednesday. Gold passed the US$2,800 mark for the first time last week as U.S. President Donald Trump set the stage for imminent trade wars with Canada and Mexico.
On Monday, the White House agreed to hold off on this for 30 days. However, the Trump administration advanced a 10 per cent levy on Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to announce retaliatory measures.
While it generates no yield, investors have long turned to gold as a safe-haven investment in times of economic upheaval and war. Gold prices have also benefited from central banks purchasing at the highest level since the late 1990s, and mounting fears about U.S. debt.
“Trump’s statement about being in no hurry to engage with Chinese President Xi Jinping, coupled with his suggestion regarding U.S. control of the Gaza Strip reconstruction, further intensified the demand for safe-haven assets like gold,” Samer Hasn, senior market analyst at XS.com, wrote in a research brief on Wednesday.
At the same time, he says weaker U.S. economic data, including Wednesday’s Purchasing Managers Index reading, boost the case for another Federal Reserve rate cut.
“Softer figures could provide additional momentum for gold prices,” Hasn added. “Under current conditions, the market could test the US$3,000 threshold.”
Ryan McIntyre, managing partner at Sprott Asset Management, says gold is a unique offering for investors – a highly liquid store of value with far less volatility than bitcoin, low correlation to other asset classes, and physical limitations on the pace of new supply from mines.
Then, there’s the Trump factor.
“He’s doing a lot of things that people haven’t done or haven’t considered before,” McIntyre told Yahoo Finance Canada in an interview. “Uncertainty is always good for gold. And so I think you’ve got the perfect environment for gold right now.”
He also sees political fractures widening in Canada and Europe.
“People are more politically divided, in a more harsh way, than they’ve been for a long time,” McIntyre said. “Whether it’s the United States, Germany, even in Canada now, there’s been a pretty big swing. I think people are becoming more harsh in their views.”
He believes that gold will continue its strong performance and hit new highs in the coming years. However, McIntyre declines to specify a price target, citing company compliance reasons.