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.
-
Why it’s time to look to the market for retirement savings -
Two million taxpayers to be hit by £100k tax trap by 2026/27Frozen thresholds mean more people than ever are set to pay an effective income tax rate of 60% as their earnings increase beyond £100,000. We look at why, as well as how you can avoid being caught in the trap.
-
The rise and fall of Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's ruthless dictatorNicolás Maduro is known for getting what he wants out of any situation. That might be a challenge now
-
Polar Capital: a cheap, leveraged play on technologyPolar Capital has carved out a niche in fund management and is reaping the benefits
-
Vaccines inject billions into Big Pharma – how to profit from the sectorThe vaccines subsector received a big fillip from Covid, but its potential extends far beyond combating pandemics. Here's what it means for investors
-
'Investors should keep putting their trust in investment trusts'Interview Peter Walls, manager of the Unicorn Mastertrust fund, analyses investment trusts in a conversation with Andrew Van Sickle
-
Monks Investment Trust is worthy of the spotlightMonks Investment Trust, a global growth trust, sits in the shadow of its stablemate, Scottish Mortgage. But its record warrants attention, says Max King
-
New year, same market forecastsForecasts from banks and brokers are as bullish as ever this year, but there is less conviction about the US, says Cris Sholto Heaton
-
'Expect more policy U-turns from Keir Starmer'Opinion Keir Starmer’s government quickly changes its mind as soon as it runs into any opposition. It isn't hard to work out where the next U-turns will come from
-
Why does Donald Trump want Venezuela's oil?The US has seized control of Venezuelan oil. Why and to what end?