The spot price of gold surpassed the $1,700 mark after dipping more than 1% on Tuesday thanks to countries’ plans to gradually ease coronavirus restrictions. The rise comes as central banks announce plans to expand monetary stimulus and jobless rates soar.
According to CNBC, the spot price of gold moved up to $1,710 after falling to $1,690 on Tuesday after some countries like Italy and New Zealand announced easing of lockdown, and some U.S. states looked to restarted businesses. ING analyst Warren Patterson commented on the price drop:
The fact that we’re seeing these attempts from different countries to at least partially reopen is providing some downside to gold.
Despite the easing, business shutdowns have seen a record 26.5 million Americans file for unemployed benefits since mid-March, which could see the unemployment rate get to 16% or even more. Japan’s March jobless rate rose to its highest in a year, while availability dropped to a three-year low, official data shows.
This week, the Bank of Japan, the country’s central bank, expanded monetary stimulus and pledged to buy a virtually infinite amount of bonds to keep borrowing costs down. The European Central Bank will also meet this week to discuss potential economic stimulus.
The price of bullion tends to benefit from such measures, as it’s a hedge against inflation and currency debasement. Patterson, noting that the low interest rate environment benefits gold, added:
The impact from the shutdown is going to be felt for quite some time moving forward through macro data, and that will continue to support gold.
Bitcoin itself, according to venture capitalist Tim Draper, could also benefit from currency debasement. Draper believes the cryptocurrency will hit $250,000 by 2023, as monetary stimulus drives more people to crypto and retailers start accepting bitcoin as a payment method.
Gold’s price rise moves it one step closer to the $1,900 target set by TD Securities in “anticipation of continued growth in investment demand amid massive and prolonged unconventional central bank stimulus.”
Bank of America, on the other hand, set a $3,000 price target for gold for the next 18 months, up from $2,000.
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