Silver eyes 30-month high
London, Sept. 17: Gold retreated from record highs on Friday, as a firmer dollar tempered the momentum, although concerns about further quantitative easing in the United States cushioned prices.
Meanwhile, silver was supercharged, benefiting also from gains in prices for industrial metals to test the $21 mark. A break above $21.24 would open the way for prices to hit levels last seen in October 1980.
Spot gold hit an all-time high of $1,282.75 a troy ounce before easing to a bid at $1,276.50, compared with $1,272.20 late in New York on Thursday. It has gained more than $100 or 8.4 per cent since the start of August.“It’s partly a currency move. There’s investor nervousness about monetary policy around the world since the yen intervention,” said precious metals strategist, Mr Matthew Turner, of Mitsubishi Corp.
“A lot of people are sensing a race to the bottom by central banks to print more of their currency.”
The dollar gained ground against the euro on Friday on talk of an Irish bank in trouble, but remains close to one-month lows against a basket of currencies. Dollar sentiment has been damaged by speculation of more quantitative easing from the US Federal Reserve. Quantitative easing is a process by which central banks attempt to pump money into economies by printing money and buying bonds.
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