US Inflation Worries Lead To Gold Smashing The Record Again

(CTN News) – The gold price expanded a record run on Wednesday as concerns of rising inflation boosted demand for gold as a hedge, and bullion traders shrugged off doubts over the prospect of a rate cut by the Fed and rising bond yields on the US Treasury.

It was up 0.3% at 0406 GMT from a record high of $2,288.09 earlier in the session. A record high of $2,288.09 was reached earlier in the session. As of Thursday, gold had set a record for the fifth consecutive week.

Gold futures for the US rose by 1.1 pc to $2,306.60 on Friday.

Gold has continued to receive safe-haven flows despite Ukraine’s continued attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure, to the point where it is ignoring rising US yields and the prospect of the Fed not cutting interest rates in June,” said City Index senior analyst Matt Simpson.

The Federal Reserve policymakers said on Tuesday that it is likely that the US interest rate will be cut three times this year, despite strong recent economic data having sowed doubts among investors that this will happen.

It was reported this week that US manufacturing unexpectedly rebounded this week, with raw materials prices rising in response, triggering fears that inflation could return to its pre-crisis levels.

Simpson said that with commodity prices rising in general, there is the potential for another round of inflation – and maybe investors are hedging against that possibility,” he said.

There is no doubt that gold has gained more than 10.8pc so far this year and is set to rise again for the seventh straight day, as it has always served as a hedge against inflation and a safe haven during times of political and economic uncertainty.

As far as gold is concerned, inflation is currently more of a driving variable than interest rates at the moment, and part of the momentum has been driven by speculators, hedge funds, and commodity funds that buy gold as soon as their quantitative systems signal them that they should,” Marex analyst Edward Meir said.

Additionally, spot silver rose by 1.2 percent to $26.41 an ounce, platinum rose by 0.8 percent to $925.72, and palladium increased by 0.6 percent to $1.009.45 an ounce.

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