Gold prices on track to rise to new record levels this year
- by Emilio Sims
- in Money
- — Jul 24, 2020
However, the price rise dampened retail demand for gold in India, the world's second largest consumer of the precious metal.
"Overall, we expect demand for safe-haven assets like gold and silver to remain relatively strong for the remainder of 2020".
On Thursday, silver was trading at $22.79 per ounce in the global market, while its spot price in India was at Rs 60, 586 per kg.
Gold futures for August delivery rose 1.5 per cent to settle at US$1,843.90 an ounce at 1:30 p.m. on the Comex in NY, the highest closing price for a most-active contract since September 2011.
During the day, gold prices did touch a record-high level of Rs 52,050 per 10 grams for some time, breaching the Rs 52,000-mark.
A new record high for gold against the U.S. dollar is expected "in the coming weeks", helping to complete the set with gold prices already at record highs against all other G8 currencies, Michael Hewson, chief analyst at CMC Markets UK, said.
Gold surged to a nine-year peak on Wednesday as an escalation in U.S.
Precious metals are soaring to multi-year highs on the back of persistent concerns over the coronavirus, which is weighing on the outlook for further economic stimulus worldwide. "We've seen that silver has been increasingly trading as an industrial metal".
Earlier this month, Kishore Narne, Associate Director-Head - Commodity & Currency, Motilal Oswal Commodity told CNBC-TV18 that gold prices may hit Rs 65,000 - 68,000 per 10 grams levels before December 2021 depending upon the currency trajectory.
Stimulus measures by central banks have added to the momentum too.
In the spot market, gold prices flipped into discounts due to weak demand.
The rise in price of gold and silver has led to a spike in MCX's bullion turnover ahead of its April-June quarterly results. In fact, gold prices have gained by ₹1,295 from ₹48,886-level logged on July 1.
"Silver spot prices have outperformed gold so far this month, an interesting reversal of the norm", said Cailin Birch, global economist at The EIU, adding that it reflected market optimism for global industry, as silver has many industrial uses.
Gains in the yellow metal to record high also were propelled by mixed and in fact marginal declining sentiment in the world equity markets.
