#gold

#gold

Gold steadied around USD 4,100 on Thursday, finding support after a sharp two-day slide, as investors weighed renewed geopolitical tensions and upcoming US inflation data. The metal paused its decline despite lingering headwinds, including a firmer dollar and this week's largest single-day outflow from gold-backed ETFs in five months. On the geopolitical front, Washington announced new sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies after the planned Trump-Putin meeting was shelved, while cross-border strikes intensified near Russia's Belgorod region.

Global stock markets fell sharply and gold hit a record high after two US regional banks said they had been exposed to millions of dollars of bad loans and alleged fraud. Signs of credit stress rattled markets across Europe and Asia. In London the FTSE 100 fell 1.5%, Germany's Dax fell 2%, the Ibex in Spain was off 0.8% and France's Cac 40 dropped 1.5%, before recovering some ground.

Two dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, 30 rolls of toilet paper - and one ounce of 24 karat gold. While that might be one of the more expensive grocery runs a Costco shopper might make, it is one that could realistically happen. Costco sells hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of gold and silver each month. There are two ways to buy bars and coins from the wholesale club: online and in-store at certain warehouses. Here's what that looks like.

Gold prices have surged to fresh record highs, breaching $3,900 an ounce for the first time as investors sought refuge from global economic and political uncertainty. The precious metal traded at $3,956.19 per ounce in late deals, extending this year's gain to almost 50 per cent. The rally has been fuelled by expectations of lower US interest rates, geopolitical tensions and heavy buying by central banks seeking to diversify reserves.

The spot gold price could hit $5,000 this year, and you'll surely be disappointed if you missed out on the opportunity. However, you might not want to bother with shipping, storing, and insuring gold bars or coins. Furthermore, certain types of investment accounts don't directly allow gold bullion investments. That's fine since there's a near-perfect workaround with the Sprott Gold Miners ETF. There's no need to hold physical gold, and many investment accounts will allow you to buy and sell an ETF such as SGDM.

Gold prices have surged over 45% in 2024, reaching multiple record peaks and heading toward their strongest annual performance in 45 years. Beyond purchases by central banks, the precious metal has gained momentum from the Federal Reserve's interest rate reductions, the global shift away from dollar dependence, and increased investment in gold ETFs. In addition, with the stock market seemingly printing new all-time highs every week, gold and the gold miners are seen as a solid hedge against a market meltdown

Whilst gold prices have many drivers, one is the perception that it operates as a haven that investors buy in times of fear. After all, it doesn't pay a dividend or a coupon, and over the very long term, it's struggled to compete with other asset returns. This September, gold prices exceeded their previous inflation-adjusted peak from January 1980. That was a time when the US was heading into recession, driven by a huge monetary tightening by the Fed under Paul Volcker, aiming to get inflation down. So historically, high gold prices haven't exactly been associated with rampant optimism," Allen told clients in a note this morning.

Gold surged to another record high on Tuesday, lifted by a softer dollar and firm expectations of the Federal Reserve easing. Traders are now fully pricing in a 25-basis-point cut at next week's policy meeting, with a slim chance of a larger 50-basis-point move, reinforcing demand for the non-yielding asset. Markets are also awaiting the Fed's quarterly projections and Chair Jerome Powell's press conference for signals on the pace of future cuts.

Inflows of new money, though strong, are well below the surges of the financial crisis or Covid pandemic, and they're being matched by existing investors choosing to sell at gold's new record highs. With the Dollar gold price last month setting its 7th month-average record in 2025 so far, the number of new account openings on BullionVault beat August 2024 by 77.4%, marking the 4th strongest August in the West London fintech's 2-decade history.

At its annual jamboree at Jackson Hole, Chair Powell signalled his apparent support for a rate cut later this month, stating that the softening labour market could offset the inflation risks from Trump's tariffs. The market had already been anticipating a 0.25% cut on 17 September but this cemented expectations and last week's crop of US data did little to change things.

Shares of Apple are still exploding higher on earnings and tariff news. Just days ago, Apple's EPS of $1.57 beat estimates by 14 cents. Revenue of $94.04 billion, up 9.6% year over year, beat by $4.88 billion. According to analysts at Wedbush, Apple's $100 billion investment in the U.S. is a "good strategic poker move for Cook". According to Wells Fargo, Apple's $100 billion investment is all about tariff exemption.

Alternative payment mechanisms are being actively employed, including gold, cryptocurrencies, and, more recently, netting arrangements: clearing operations, which we are currently implementing.