Gold futures in New York rose to the highest in 25 years for a second day as investors bet metals will deliver better returns than stocks and bonds. Copper and zinc traded at records.
Hedge funds and speculators expect metals to outperform as demand led by China outpaces supply. Investments in index-linked commodity funds will rise 38 percent this year to US$140 billion, according to Barclays Capital.
"Fund activity in New York is increasing" for gold and metals, Tsuyoshi Furukawa, a commodity strategist at Taiheiyo Bussan Co in Tokyo, said by phone yesterday, "As prices rise it increases investment efficiency and more money enters the commodities market."
Gold for June delivery reached US$603.10 an ounce, the highest since January 1981, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday. The contract has gained 29 percent since the start of November. Copper advanced to a record on the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
Copper prices in London have gained 49 percent since the start of November and zinc prices have climbed 86 percent. Nickel prices have risen 44 percent.
"The funds have been long for the whole lot" of metals, including gold, silver, copper, zinc and nickel, Jonathan Barratt, head of foreign exchange and precious metals at Tricom Futures Pty, said by phone from Sydney.
"Commodities are the flavor of the month," said David Gornall, head of foreign exchange and bullion at Natexis Commodity Markets Ltd in London Thursday. "Gold, silver, zinc or copper, it doesn't really matter."
Investment funds have been the biggest buyers of gold this year, outpacing purchases by jewelers, who accounted for 73 percent of demand last year, the London-based World Gold Council said in a March 29 newsletter.
Gold may attract investors as worldwide interest rates remain too low to contain inflation, analysts said. Oil prices rose to a two-month high yesterday.
Gold for delivery in February rose as much as ?31, or 1.4 percent, to 2,294 a gram on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the highest since October 1987. The metal traded ?19 up at ?2,282, or US$603 an ounce, as of 2:28pm local time.
In India, the world's biggest consumer, gold for June delivery rose 18 rupees, or 0.2 percent, to 8,709 rupees per 10 grams, or US$606 per ounce, at 2:26pm Tokyo time on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd in Mumbai. It touched a record 8,722 rupees earlier yesterday.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary