Benzinga -
- Increased gold demand: Global economic uncertainty drives central banks to stock up on gold.
- Gold as safe asset: Countries turn to gold as an alternative currency amid financial sanctions and uncertainty.
- Investor safe haven: Mistrust in central banks' dollar dependence leads investors to choose gold for security.
- Psychological barrier: Gold struggles to close above the $2,000 level.
Gold prices are near-record levels as countries from China and Russia to India seek alternatives to an increasingly uncertain US dollar market. In the last six months alone, this renewed appetite for gold has boosted its price by 20%, making it clear that changes are occurring across international markets.
With the US, European Union, Japan and UK frequently wielding financial sanctions against nations, up to 30% of them in today's world compared to only 10% two decades ago, gold is increasingly becoming a sought-after asset.
As Russia experienced first-hand when its currency assets were frozen and excluded from the SWIFT system, no nation can rest assured that it will be safe from punitive measures imposed by global powers. For security in such uncertain times, many countries are turning towards gold as an alternate form of currency.
Gold is also becoming the go-to safe haven for investors who are increasingly mistrustful of central banks' dependence on an uncertain dollar.
As evidence, in March, when a short banking crisis rocked global markets, there was no stopping gold.
Its value kept rising while the greenback drifted down to record their largest difference ever. This shift signals that many have chosen gold as their weapon against economic instability, and it's paying off!
The effects, if truly positive, should be reflected in the price of gold. The $2,000 psychological round number is preventing the value of gold from moving any higher.
Since breaking above $2,000 for the first time in August 2020, records were being set, and gold did appear unstoppable as price had already moved up by 78%.
However, this solid round number proved to be formidable as price has been unable to close above this level on the monthly timeframe.
There have been a number of months that saw price trading above $2,000 but by the time the month ended, price was back below this level.
This occurred in August 2020, March 2022 and March 2023. Will the same happen for this month as well?
As the month is coming to an end, price is hovering above and below $2,000 so the buyers and sellers are left to battle it out.
Considering the bullish long-term trend, the bias is for an eventual breakout to the upside. Gold requires a lot of patience but usually rewards investors handsomely during trends following breakouts.
After the closing bell on Tuesday, April 26, the gold closed at $1996.74, trading up by 0.38%.
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