Gold’s strong start to the new year
Gold has raced off the starting blocks for 2021, hitting a two-month high on Monday.
Trading around $1,946/oz earlier this week, the gold price remains short of the all-time high achieved last August, when it hit an intra-day high of $2,075/oz.
Despite the dip since then gold investors are sitting on tidy profits. Gold rose by 22% in 2020 and has gained 65% since August 2018. It faces two key issues in 2021. Firstly, the vaccines, which have taken some of the shine off gold, says The Times.
As a safe-haven asset, the metal attracts less attention when the economy is doing well, as is expected this year. Investment bank analysts are cautious, with HSBC predicting gold will finish 2021 at $1,907; Bank of America predicts $2,060.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Secondly, bitcoin has emerged as an alternative hedge against inflation. The cryptocurrency’s surge may be diverting funds that would otherwise flow into precious metals, Delano Saporu of New Street Advisors Group told CNBC’s Lizzy Gurdus. Investors looking for a hedge against government currency debasement now have more options to choose from.
Still, if 2021 brings the inflationary scare MoneyWeek has been fretting about for some time, then gold is likely to gain new impetus. This week’s jump is giving gold bugs hope. A store of wealth for thousands of years, there is still nothing quite like gold.
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019.
Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere.
He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful.
Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.
-
Reeves warned against property tax shake-up – 3 ways it could backfire on first-time buyers
Rachel Reeves reportedly has her eye on high-end property taxes in the upcoming Budget, but there are concerns a shake-up could unintentionally hamper those trying to get on the housing ladder
-
Average Brits want to retire five years before they can – who has the widest retirement gap?
Brits are expecting to work for longer than ever but there are big disparities in the number of extra working years predicted. A small tweak could help close the gap
-
Pierre-Édouard Stérin wants to make France great again
Conservative billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin is seeking to lead a political and spiritual renaissance across the Channel. The planning looks meticulous
-
Global investors have overlooked the top innovators in emerging markets
Opinion Carlos Hardenberg, portfolio manager, Mobius Investment Trust, highlights three emerging market stocks where he’d put his money
-
Pinewood Technologies: a drive for growth
Pinewood Technologies’ platform is one of the best in the business. Investors should buy in
-
'EV maker Faraday Future will crash'
Faraday Future Intelligent Electric is failing dismally to live up to its name, says Matthew Partridge
-
Investors should cheer the coming nuclear summer
The US and UK have agreed a groundbreaking deal on nuclear power, and the sector is seeing a surge in interest from around the world. Here's how you can profit
-
8 of the best houses for sale with follies
The best houses for sale with follies in the grounds – from a five-storey Victorian Gothic tower in Tonbridge, Kent, to a former mill in Oxfordshire with gardens that include a folly on an island in a lake
-
A tale of two Reits – why performance matters for valuation
AEW UK and Regional are two Reits that are valued very differently, despite a shared focus on properties outside London
-
Healthcare stocks look cheap, but tread carefully
Shares in healthcare companies could get a shot in the arm if uncertainty over policy in the US wanes, but are they worth the risk?