New York: Gold climbed for a second day as assets in bullion-backed funds rose to the highest since December 2013 and Goldman Sachs Group Inc raised price forecasts.
Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.7 per cent to $1,274.65 (Dh4,677.996) an ounce and was at $1,272.04 at 10.10am in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Silver added 1.1 per cent, while platinum and palladium also gained.
Gold is up 20 per cent this year as a slowdown in global growth and the Federal Reserve’s hesitancy to raise rates boost its appeal. Billionaire hedge-fund manager Paul Singer has said that gold’s best quarter in 30 years is probably just the beginning of a rebound. Goldman analysts increased price estimates for the next 12 months, but kept their bearish outlook on the metal.
“ETF inflows followed the move higher in the gold price in April,” Jonathan Butler, a precious metals strategist at Mitsubishi Corp in London, said by email. “This upwards momentum has followed through into May despite gold coming off its highs of the start of the month.”
Bullion holdings rose for an 11th day, the longest run in two months. Assets increased 3 tons to 1,806.71 tons as of Tuesday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. They’ve jumped 24 per cent this year.
“It makes a great deal of sense to own gold. Other investors may be finally starting to agree,” Singer wrote in an April 28 letter to clients. “Investors have increasingly started processing the fact that the world’s central bankers are completely focused on debasing their currencies.”
