The price of gold struck a record high level above US$1,215 an ounce in trading yesterday.
Gold hit US$1,215.85 on the London Bullion Market one day after breaking through the US$1,200 barrier for the first time.
After reaching a new high yesterday, gold pulled back slightly to trade at US$1,210.50 at about 0740 GMT.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DEVALUATION
“Gold prices will go up, as will other commodities,” Mark Mobius, chairman of Templeton Asset Management Ltd, said in a Bloomberg Television interview yesterday from Hong Kong.
“It’s basically the devaluation of currencies, which is ongoing and will be ongoing for many years to come,” Mobius said.
Gold has smashed record after record over recent days and weeks on the back of inflationary fears and increasing moves by central banks to diversify assets away from the dollar, which has weakened against the euro and yen.
The yellow metal, whose two main drivers are jewelry and investment buyers, has also won favor in the uncertain economic climate and fears of a mounting Dubai debt crisis. Gold is traditionally viewed as a safe-haven investment.
“It’s really a dollar story,” said Jerry Yoshikoshi, a senior economist with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp in Singapore. “As long as the US authorities neglect a weak dollar, gold prices remain elevated.”
The US Federal Reserve has kept benchmark interest rates close to zero this month in a bid to revive lending after the worst financial crisis since World War II. The US government has boosted spending to combat the recession, pushing the nation’s marketable debt to more than US$6.9 trillion.
The Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge that includes the yen, was little-changed yesterday. Against the euro, the US currency traded near a 16-month low.
PRINTING MONEY
“The main reason is that they continue to print too much money, and people don’t trust governments and banks,” said Jurg Kiener, chief investment officer at Swiss Asia Capital Pte in Singapore.
“We keep buying” gold every day, Kiener said.
Nvidia Corp yesterday unveiled its new high-speed interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion, with Taiwanese application-specific IC (ASIC) designers Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) among the first to adopt the technology to help build semi-custom artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure for hyperscalers. Nvidia has opened its technology to outside users, as hyperscalers and cloud service providers are building their own cost-effective AI chips, or accelerators, used in AI servers by leveraging ASIC firms’ designing capabilities to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. Previously, NVLink technology was only available for Nvidia’s own AI platform. “NVLink Fusion opens Nvidia’s AI platform and rich ecosystem for
WARNING: From Jan. 1 last year to the end of last month, 89 Taiwanese have gone missing or been detained in China, the MAC said, urging people to carefully consider travel to China Lax enforcement had made virtually moot regulations banning civil servants from making unauthorized visits to China, the Control Yuan said yesterday. Several agencies allowed personnel to travel to China after they submitted explanations for the trip written using artificial intelligence or provided no reason at all, the Control Yuan said in a statement, following an investigation headed by Control Yuan member Lin Wen-cheng (林文程). The probe identified 318 civil servants who traveled to China without permission in the past 10 years, but the true number could be close to 1,000, the Control Yuan said. The public employees investigated were not engaged in national
CAUSE AND EFFECT: China’s policies prompted the US to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing should consider if this outcome is in its best interests, Lai said China has been escalating its military and political pressure on Taiwan for many years, but should reflect on this strategy and think about what is really in its best interest, President William Lai (賴清德) said. Lai made the remark in a YouTube interview with Mindi World News that was broadcast on Saturday, ahead of the first anniversary of his presidential inauguration tomorrow. The US has clearly stated that China is its biggest challenge and threat, with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth repeatedly saying that the US should increase its forces in the Indo-Pacific region
ALL TOGETHER: Only by including Taiwan can the WHA fully exemplify its commitment to ‘One World for Health,’ the representative offices of eight nations in Taiwan said The representative offices in Taiwan of eight nations yesterday issued a joint statement reiterating their support for Taiwan’s meaningful engagement with the WHO and for Taipei’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA). The joint statement came as Taiwan has not received an invitation to this year’s WHA, which started yesterday and runs until Tuesday next week. This year’s meeting of the decisionmaking body of the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland, would be the ninth consecutive year Taiwan has been excluded. The eight offices, which reaffirmed their support for Taiwan, are the British Office Taipei, the Australian Office Taipei, the
RSS