Spot gold was steady at $US1473.16 ounce, having hit a record high of $US1479.01 an ounce.
HCM research that has calculated that an inflation adjusted high for Gold should be $US2500 an ounce in 2012, that amount would be equivalent to the 1980 prices that resulted from global instability and inflation.
Worries about inflation had spurred steady physical demand from China, where the government has vowed to use all tools at its disposal, including bank reserve requirements, interest rates and the yuan’s exchange rate, to wrestle inflation under control.
Gold’s rise to record high only attracted light selling from Thailand and Indonesia, suggesting that investors remained bullish on the outlook. Premiums for gold bars were steady at between 70 cents and $US1 an ounce in Singapore.
Spot silver rose as high as $US42.41 an ounce, its strongest since 1980, with physical dealers in Singapore also reporting buying from speculators. IShares Silver Trust said its holdings edged up to 10,974.26 tonnes by April 14 from 10,969.71 tonnes on April 13. The holdings hit a record of 11,242.89 tonnes hit on April 8.
The dollar dropped to its lowest in more than a year, under pressure from expectations the US Federal Reserve will not cut short its $US600 billion debt-buying programme despite the recent surge in oil prices.
US gold futures for June rose as high as $US1480.5 an ounce, a lifetime high. Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX) started trading cash-settled gold futures on Friday, with the contract for June delivery opening at $US1475 an ounce on low volumes.
Shayne Heffernan
Shayne Heffernan oversees the management of funds for institutions and high net worth individuals.
Shayne Heffernan brings with him over 25 years of trading experience in Asia and hands on experience in Venture Capital, he has been involved in several start ups that have seen market capitalization over $500m and 1 that reach a peak market cap of $15b. He has managed and overseen start ups in Mining, Shipping, Technology and Financial Services.
