Gold prices bounced back on Thursday as a drop in U.S. dollar and Treasury yields coupled with a slide in risk assets rekindled demand for the safe-haven bullion amid worries about global growth.
Spot gold jumped 0.9% to $1,830.99 per ounce by 1150 GMT, while U.S. gold futures rose 0.8% to $1,829.80.
Making bullion cheaper for overseas investors, the dollar slid 0.5%, while U.S. Treasury yields dropped to their lowest in a week.
European shares also slumped on Thursday, following a sharp sell-off on Wall Street overnight, prompting investors to seek safety of gold.
“The dollar is going down and it’s quite natural that gold is appreciating,” said Carlo Alberto De Casa, external market analyst at Kinesis.
Gold prices hit new record high
“Unless the U.S. dollar continues to strain and inflation continues to fight, I don’t see other reason for new, big falls in gold,” Casa said, adding that $1,790-$1,800 is an important support zone for bullion.
Gold prices dropped to a near four-month low earlier this week and are up about 2% since the dollar backtracked from 20-years highs.
Gold’s reputation as an inflation hedge is being countered by an aggressive policy stance taken by central banks to fight soaring prices. Non-yielding gold tends to fall out of favour among investors when interest rates rise.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell this week pledged the U.S. central bank would ratchet up rates as high as needed to combat red-hot inflation.
“Rising inflation failed to impress the market, instead raising fears of a more hawkish stance by central banks,” ANZ analysts wrote in a note.
Still, concerns about global economic growth, fuelled by sustained inflation and heightened geopolitical risks, should protect the gold price somewhat, ANZ added.
In other metals, spot silver gained 1.7% to $21.75 per ounce, and platinum was up 0.5% at $939.94, while palladium dropped 1.1% to $1,994.88.
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