Gold breached the $1,500 an ounce threshold on Wednesday as gold's appeal as a shelter from risk increased.
Reuters reported that spot gold hit a high of $1,505.21 an ounce and was bid at $1,505.16 an ounce at 5:42 a.m. ET, against $1,493.90 late in New York on Tuesday.
The yellow metal hit a high of $1,500.70 an ounce in Hong Kong trade.
Gold's rise was also coupled with Silver hitting a 31-year high at $44.56 an ounce and was later bid at $44.51 against $43.89.
The increase in price of Gold and Silver seems inevitable now and analysts point out the following facts.
S&P's revision of America's credit rating:
Standard & Poor's recently threatened that it will downgrade United States AAA rating due to the high budget deficit. Reuters quoted Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington, who said that the downgrade could result in "wholesale abandonment of dollar assets and would potentially destabilize the entire global economy."
In such a scenario, where dollar assets seem to be losing their sheen, gold shines as good store of value.
Fears of weakening dollar:
Bloomberg reported that the dollar slipped 0.8 percent against six major currencies trading at a 16-month low. The weakened dollar has lent support to gold prices. Reuters reported that weakness in dollar boosts gold's appeal as an alternative asset. Also US Federal Reserve and central banks across Europe have attempted to deal with the debt crisis by pumping more paper money which will further decline the value of currency and increase the value of gold and silver.
According to Daily Markets analyst Michael Snyder, a sustained increase in gold and oil indicates that the dollar is on the decline. Synder wrote: "... when these commodities go up in price it is a sign that the U.S. dollar is dying and that our country is getting closer to economic collapse." He further elaborates that gold and silver price hike indicates that investors are losing trust in dollar and US treasuries.
No alternative currency:
In spite of the trillion dollar deficit which has created a lot of new money, the US dollar has still been the reserve currency as there is no alternative currency. Tom Simons, a money market economist at Jefferies & Co. in New York, told Reuters: "One of the reasons why the U.S. dollar is still the reserve currency is the lack of other options, and in two years there may still be no other options." In such a scenario, dollars' value is obviously eroding while gold and silver appear as more stable form of investments.
Higher Inflation:
Higher crude prices, which according to WSJ, are up 1 percent at $108.20 a barrel, tend to increase investments in gold as a hedge against oil-led inflation. Gold acts as good hedge against inflation, primarily when interest rates in most countries are low.
Bloomberg reported that the difference between yields on U.S. 10-year notes and Treasury Inflation Protected Securities and a trader's expectations for inflation widened to as much as 2.66 percentage points on April 20. The spread reached 2.67 percentage points on April 11, the most in three years.
Inflation concerns and higher consumer income in China and India are fuelling gold prices as well. Macquarie analyst Hayden Atkins told Reuters : "The theme of longer term higher inflation than we have seen in the last 10 years in China is a pretty solid view, so gold is going to be an asset class that is probably going to be more in favor in China than it has been in the past."
Decreasing investor faith in European Bonds:
Interest rate on Greek, Irish and Portuguese bonds increased on fears that some form default is imminent. Los Angeles Times reported that annualized yield on two-year Greek bonds soared to 20.72 percent on Tuesday, up from 16.42 percent a week earlier. Portuguese two-year-note yields are at 10.14 percent versus 9.05 percent a week ago. Irish two-year yields are at 9.69 percent versus 8.66 percent. This indicates that investors are no longer looking at bonds as safe havens and are thus turning to gold.
Gold and silver rally will continue as long as oil-led inflationary pressure caused by the Middle East crisis, weakening dollar and debt crisis deepens across the globe.
Source: http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/136456/20110420/gold-1500-silver-record-standard-poor-debt-rating-bonds-oil-price-inflation-security-risk.htm
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