Gold was little changed in Asia yesterday after breaching US$1,000 for the first time as investors turned cautious, gauging the extent of a US economic slowdown and prospects for a prolonged global credit crisis.
Gold futures climbed as high as US$1,000.45 an ounce on Thursday as mounting credit-market losses spurred demand for bullion as a haven from the sagging dollar and equities. Gold is up 37 percent since the US Federal Reserve began cutting borrowing costs in September, sending the dollar tumbling.
"Gold strength has been mainly driven by the weak dollar, strong crude and increasing fear of recession," Stephan Schlatter, executive director for metals markets in Asia at UBS AG, said from Singapore yesterday by e-mail.
PHOTO: AP
"Assuming that the situation will not change over the next few weeks there is still a high probability that gold will show continuing strength," he said.
Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at US$996.49 an ounce at 2:49pm in Singapore. Silver gained 0.9 percent to US$20.69 an ounce, compared with US$21.23 on March 6, the highest since 1980.
The US Federal Open Market Committee's next regular meeting is on Tuesday. Traders expect the Fed to lower its benchmark rate by 0.75 percentage point to 2.25 percent based on futures prices.
"Gold might still go higher to US$1,100 or succumb to some profit-taking, depending on the extent of the interest-rate cut and whether the subprime crisis has come to an end," Ng Cheng Thye, head of precious metals markets at Standard Bank Asia, said by phone from Singapore.
Gold futures for April delivery gained US$4.60, or 0.5 percent, to US$998.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price reached US$1,001.50 on Thursday, the highest ever for a most-active contract.
Gold's all-time inflation adjusted record is US$2,284 on Jan. 21, 1980, according to a calculator on the Web site of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
The metal jumped 31 percent last year as the dollar fell 9.5 percent against the euro.
The dollar headed for a fifth straight week of declines against the euro and the fourth week of losses versus the yen.
The US currency traded at US$1.5615 per euro at 2:41pm in Singapore, after touching US$1.5645 per euro on Thursday, the weakest since the European currency's debut in 1999. It traded at ?100.35, after touching ?99.77 on Thursday, the lowest since 1995.
Rising prices for precious metals such as gold and silver may deter buying from the end users such as jewelers, Ng said.
"Precious metals, especially silver, see big discounts in the spot market which is a sign of weak physical demand," he said.
The recent gains were "on the back of speculation only," Schlatter said.
"When attacking again the magic US$1,000 hurdle, the risk of seeing profit-taking on speculative positions is increasing," he said.
Gold demand in the January-March quarter will decline from a year earlier as record prices curb purchases, the World Gold Council said earlier this week.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to