The price of gold hit a record on Thursday, while silver rose to a 12-year high on increased expectations of active monetary easing by the Federal Reserve.
Gold futures on the Comex exchange climbed to $2707.9 an ounce during trading.
Silver on the spot market rose 2.8% to $32.71 an ounce, a record since December 2012.
Since the beginning of the year, silver has gained 34% in price, demonstrating the best dynamics among commodities. Gold has risen by almost 30% since the beginning of the year.
The precious metals are supported by expectations of rate cuts by the world’s leading central banks. Traders see about 62% probability of another Fed rate cut, by 50 basis points in November.
The media also write that gold was rising in price in anticipation of the speech of the head of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell at the opening of the 10th annual conference of the FRB New York, dedicated to the U.S. government bond market. However, in his speech he limited himself to formal greetings to the participants and did not touch upon monetary policy issues.
Gold continues to rise in price and break records on the back of a weaker US dollar and on expectations of a significant interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve this week. Based on futures quotes on the rate level, the probability of its reduction by 50 basis points (bps) by the Federal Reserve is estimated by the market at 67% compared to 25% a month ago, according to CME FedWatch.
In addition, demand for gold as a safe-haven asset has intensified following the second assassination attempt on U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump last weekend, Trading Economics noted.
“A fragmented world laden with geopolitical risks and debt will continue to support the price” of gold, notes Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank.
Analysts Goldman Sachs confirmed their forecast, according to which the precious metal may rise to $ 2700 per ounce in early 2025 due to lower interest rates in the U.S. and increased demand for gold from the Central Bank of emerging market countries. However, they noted that if the Fed raises the rate by only 25 bp, prices for precious metal may show a short-term pullback, Bloomberg reports.
Experts of the Australian bank ANZ also expect prices to rise to $2700 per ounce in the near future.
Quotes of October gold futures on the Comex exchange are now $2588.7 per ounce, which is $3.5 (0.1%) above the level at the close of the previous session. Since the beginning of this year, the precious metal has risen in price by more than a quarter.
India imported $3.13 billion worth of gold in July 2024, the country’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry said. This is 11% less than in July last year, but 2% more than in June this year.
Demand for gold in India both this year (the season of purchases – August-December), and in the long term can grow significantly due to the reduction of customs duties, says World Gold Council analyst Kavita Chako. Duties on gold have been reduced from 15% to 6%, on gold doré – from 14.35% to 5.35% – such a sharp decline has never been. Moreover, for almost 11 years the duties have never fallen below 10%. The changes came into force on July 24.
In total for 7 months of the year gold imports to India amounted to $22.234 billion, which is 12% more than the result of the corresponding period last year. India is one of the largest consumers of gold in the world, practically not producing it itself.
Ukraine’s women’s sabre fencing team has won gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
In the final, the Ukrainians defeated the Republic of Korea 45:42.
The Olympic champions in team sabre are: Olga Harlan, Alina Komashchuk, Olena Kravatska and Yulia Bakastova.
This is Ukraine’s third medal and first gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Gold prices are actively rising on Friday and have reached a new all-time high due to investor demand for safe-haven assets, MarketWatch reports.
Gold futures quotes on the Comex exchange are up 1% at $2506.2 per troy ounce.
“There is a tailwind for gold,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone. – “Expectations of easing from the Federal Reserve have reached such a level that there is already talk of the need for a sharper rate cut in September.
In his opinion, rising tensions in the Middle East make gold the most popular asset for hedging risks. An additional factor that could boost demand for the precious metal is the reduction of duties on gold imports to India.
Yaroslava Maguchikh and Iryna Gerashchenko have won another set of awards for the Ukrainian national team at the 2024 European Athletics Championships, which are taking place in Rome, Italy.
In the high jump, Maguchikh won European gold for the second time in a row with a score of 2.01 meters, while Gerashchenko cleared 1.95 meters and won bronze.
“Angelina Topic from Serbia took the silver medal (1.97 meters).
