Gold News

Average house prices have reached a new record high in March, despite the ongoing economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. House prices climbed to an average of £254,606 based on figures from Halifax and their House Price Index report.

Hungary's central bank, the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB), has announced the purchase of 63 tonnes of Good Delivery gold bars. In a press statement issued yesterday, the bank revealed it had acquired 5,040 bars weighing 400 ounces each, taking the nation's holdings from 31.5 tonnes to 94.5 tonnes.

Based on last month's fix prices, the average for the month was approximately $1,720 per ounce of gold. Multiplied by the 2,016,000 ounces purchased, the price paid by Hungary is in the region of $3.484 billion.

Archegos Capital, the hedge fund owned by Bill Hwang (formerly of Tiger Management), is at the centre of attention in the financial world following a 'fire sale' on Friday; the forced liquidation of positions due to margin calls and the need to free up funds to meet these repayment obligations.

Japanese bank Nomura Holdings, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, and Switzerland’s Credit Suisse all announced that Archegos' losses would hit them as a result, with $6 billion being touted as the global total lost.

A host of economic issues has added further uncertainty for the global economy in the past few days. Both geopolitical concerns as well as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have served to give gold a small boost following its recent price pressure.

Having fallen as low as £1,213.79 per ounce earlier this month, gold has been making gradual gains since, and is now up just over 4% and trading at around £1,260 per ounce today.

A dovish Federal Reserve attempted to reassure markets last night that interest rates will remain low for some time yet, regardless of improving economic recovery, and potential inflation. Despite some initial signs of success, market uncertainty appears to have remained this morning.

Following months of delay, the United States has finally approved a coronavirus rescue package, worth $1.9 trillion. The ‘American Rescue Plan’ authorises several federal spending measures, as well as providing financial relief in the form of cheques to millions of American families following a year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rising bond yields have pushed gold to a ten-month low in Dollars, as markets price in economic recovery and rising inflation.

Since reaching a new Dollar record in August 2020 gold has come under pressure from increasing optimism over the potential end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chinese officials have aired their concerns over the stock market bubble in America and Europe, cautioning against over-commitment to stocks and shares for fear of a market collapse.

China is warning that without restraint now we could see a repeat of the Dot Com Bubble in 2000-2001. Bloomberg subsequently reported a big impact to Chinese stocks on Tuesday, with the CSI 300 index down 2.1%.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has pledged billions more in support for businesses and individuals in another pandemic-focused UK Budget.

As is common in recent years, many of the measures were announced prior to the official statement, and confirm that financial support will continue for several months as the UK, hopefully, eases restrictions after a year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Factories in the UK, EU and US have all reported increasing costs, in what could be some of the first indications of inflation to come in the months ahead.

Yesterday’s PMI figures showed that factory output in the UK also fell to the lowest rate in nine months, when growth returned following the end of the UK’s first lockdown.

UK unemployment rose to a rate of 5.1% at the end of 2020, the highest it has been since 2016. Despite some signs of improvement, employment remains a key risk to the UK’s economic recovery, and analysts are warning things will get worse in the coming months as wage subsidy schemes come to an end.

Sterling is continuing to rise against both the Dollar and Euro this week, and reached a 34-month high against the Dollar, putting additional pressure on metal prices here in the UK.

The Pound was trading as high as $1.39498 so far this week, a price last seen in April 2018, and marks the continuation of an impressive rally for Sterling in the past year.

The price of platinum has today hit a peak of £925.02 per ounce; the highest the precious metal has been since September 2013.

Platinum has gained £128.51 per ounce so far this month (16.40%) but around £110 of those gains have come in the past week, with several factors driving the latest platinum price surge.

Silver demand soared last week as a stock market battle spilled over to the precious metal, driving prices up in a short-lived spike, and stripping dealers of physical stock.

Confusion over the co-ordinated “silver squeeze” has seen prices fall back from last week’s peaks, but are still up for the month, and demand remains high.

After setting surprising new highs last week, the Biden boost for the stock market could be showing the first signs of ending, after posting losses in trading this week.

The Dow Jones suffered its worst day of trading yesterday since October, and European stock markets have followed suit today.

A rare, gold ‘Brasher Doubloon’ has sold for an eye-watering $9.36 million at auction recently, setting new records for both the auction house, and grading company - the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. The sale is being celebrated as the highest amount paid for a NGC coin, more than doubling the previous record.

Inflation is set to be a key driver for gold prices in 2021 and beyond, and could help propel gold to a new all-time high. The Covid-19 outbreak saw inflation fall to near-zero in 2020, but the economic response could see inflation rise, and rise significantly in the months ahead, pushing up demand for inflation hedges like gold.

Newly elected President Joe Biden has had a busy first day in the Oval Office, and the changing of the guard from the Trump administration has been a boost to the pound sterling.

Against the dollar, the pound jumped to its highest since May 2018, reaching $1.374 at its peak before closing at $1.366.

A double-dip recession is looking increasingly likely for the UK economy in 2021 following the release of the latest GDP figures.

After a historic contraction in Q1 and Q2 of 2020, the UK economy had shown signs of recovery, with six consecutive months of growth. November’s GDP figures have ended that spree, with a fall of 2.6%, and point to a potential double-dip recession in 2021.

The Russian central bank has reported this week that its gold bullion holdings surpassed the value of its US dollar reserves.

According to the Moscow Times, Russia's gold as of June 30th last year was worth $128.5 billion – almost $4 billion more in value than the US dollars the Eurasian state holds in its reserves.