Gold futures break $1,300 an ounce, highest since November

New York (Aug 19)  Gold futures broke above $1,300 (€1,106) an ounce, rising to the highest level since November, as global stocks dropped and investors fretted that turmoil in the White House will prevent US president Donald Trump from delivering on his legislative agenda.

Futures for delivery in December advanced as much as 1.1 per cent to $1,306.90 an ounce on the Comex, and traded at $1,298.20 by mid-morning in New York. The gain came as a gauge of US stocks declined, and the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2 per cent. The Iseq was down almost 1.2 per cent.

Gold has added about 13 per cent this year as Mr Trump failed to deliver on campaign promises to ramp up US growth by cutting taxes and boosting infrastructure spending.

US inflation

This week, the White House has been under fire for Mr Trump’s response to white supremacist marches in Charlottesville, Virginia. Bullion also rose after a terror attack in Barcelona, and as quiescent US inflation calls into question the Federal Reserve’s ability to go on raising interest rates.

Spot gold prices rose 0.2 per cent to $1,291 an ounce after going as high as $1,300.92.

“As gold breaks through $1,300, the room on the upside will be opened,” Richard Fu, an analyst at Amalgamated Metal Trading in London, said by email. Bullion gained on Friday partly due to the attack in Barcelona, he said.

Bloomberg