Gold becomes more buoyant, and prices floated the highest on Tuesday for the last seven years as the global fear over the deadly coronavirus outbreak encouraged higher demands for gold and other haven assets like Treasury.
Gold for April delivery GCJ20, +1.07% on Comex rose $17.20, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,603.60 an ounce after tapping a high at $1,608.20. That marked the highest settlement and intraday level for a most-active contract since March 2013, according to FactSet data.
“Gold is finding buoyancy from increased risk aversion, as also reflected in falling stock markets and declining bond yields. The gold price is continuing to defy the firm U.S. dollar, which on a trade-weighted basis is priced at a 4½-month high,” said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank, in a note.
Meanwhile, March silver SIH20, +2.29% also rose 41.6 cents, or nearly 2.4%, to $18.15 an ounce, for the highest finish since early January of this year.
In an interview with MarketWatch, Peter Spina, president and chief executive of GoldSeek.com, said: “There is a good set-up for gold going into this and next week on the $1,600+ breakout and swing point.” With the price that it is right now, it is also possible that the price could move much higher, “with $1700 to $1900 coming in play over the coming months,” he added.