The price of gold surged to a record close to US$1,580 an ounce in London yesterday, as investors switched into the metal in search of safety from the eurozone debt crisis, traders said.
The price of gold reached US$1,578.72 an ounce by mid-day on the London Bullion Market, beating the previous record of US$1,577.57 set on May 1. It stood at US$1,573 an ounce in afternoon trade.
“Gold hit a new all-time high today as investors continue to fret over the European sovereign debt situation,” said analyst Ian O’Sullivan at trading firm Spread Co, adding that the metal had risen for eight days in a row.
“With Italy, Spain, Ireland and Portugal worries intensifying and now the [US] Fed [Reserve] minutes suggesting some members were thinking about the need for additional easing, investors have just hit the panic buy buttons this week,” he said.
“We think that gold may top out here for a while and pull back to US$1,520 to [US$]1,540, before an assault on the US$1,600 level,” he added.
EU governments are scrambling to fight debt contagion choking Italy and Spain, amid mounting sentiment that Greece could default on its debt despite a massive EU-IMF rescue.
Added to the mix, Moody’s rating agency unexpectedly slashed Irish government bonds to junk status on Tuesday, which sent borrowing costs to the highest levels since Ireland joined the eurozone.
Gold won further support from better-than-expected second-quarter economic growth of 9.5 percent year-on-year for Asian powerhouse China, which is a major consumer of commodities.
Softbank Group Corp plans to keep a stake in the chip designer Arm Ltd, even if it sells a partial interest to Nvidia Corp, the Nikkei reported. The companies are negotiating terms, the newspaper reported, citing sources. Softbank might take a stake in Nvidia after it buys Arm, the report said. Nvidia and Arm might also merge through a share swap, and Softbank would become a major shareholder in the combined company, it said. The two parties aim to reach a deal in the next few weeks, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Nvidia is the
END TO SPECULATION: The hotel’s management contract has been extended, despite reports that it wanted to end its alliance with Hyatt Hotels over a deal with Riant Capital Singapore-based Hong Leong Hotel Development Ltd (豐隆大飯店股份) yesterday said it has extended a management contract to ensure the continued presence of the Grand Hyatt brand in Taipei, ending rumors that the two sides were parting ways. “We are pleased Hyatt is able to come to terms on the extension of the management contract of Grand Hyatt Taipei,” said Kwek Leng Beng (郭令明), executive chairman of City Developments Ltd (城市發展) and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Ltd (千禧國敦酒店). Hong Leong Hotel Development is a subsidiary of Millennium, and both fall under the Hong Leong Group (豐隆集團). The Grand Hyatt Taipei (台北君悅大飯店), owned and built by
Gold surged to a fresh record on Friday, fueled by US dollar weakness and low interest rates, while silver headed for its best month since 1979. Spot bullion is up more than 10 percent this month, as US real yields lingered near record lows. While the ferocity of rallies in gold and silver cooled in the middle of the week, most market watchers predict there might be more gains ahead. Both metals have added about 30 percent this year, with gold and silver exchange-traded funds boosting holdings to a record, as concern about the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic fuels demand for
MOVING FROM CHINA? The article did not name the company, but Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron were among firms chosen for a production-linked incentive plan in India An Apple Inc vendor is looking at shifting six production lines to India from China, which could result in US$5 billion of iPhone exports from the South Asian nation, the Times of India reported, citing people familiar with the matter who it did not identify. The establishment of the facility would create about 55,000 jobs over about a year, the newspaper reported, not naming the Apple vendor. It would also cater to the domestic market and expand operations to include tablets and laptops, the newspaper reported. Samsung Electronics Co and Apple’s assembly partners are among 22 companies that have pledged 110 billion
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