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Weekly UpdatesGOLD REACHED A US$1,000 a troy ounce on 13 March, an all time record high and at the time of writing was continuing to hold up at around that level. The precious metal has been pushed higher by a weak US dollar and fears about the US economy.
Concerns about a possible US recession are seeing investors buy up certain commodities such as gold as an alternative to company shares and the US dollar.
The precious metal has been moving up since the start of the year mainly on account of the weak dollar, inflation fears as crude oil prices reach record levels, and increased concerns about the state of the US economy. Gold prices are now about 23% higher than where they were on 1 January, and this comes after a 32% advance during 2007
Gold--like platinum--experienced a sharp downward spike in early March after news that South Africa's power supplier Eskom would give the country's mines 95% of their normal power supply. The mines have been operating on 90% of their usual supply since a national energy shortage that started to bite on 4 February.
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On 6 March, gold for prompt delivery had slipped to US$966.50 a troy ounce from the US$995.20 level that it had been trading at the previous few days.
However, the weak US dollar and gold's attractiveness as a safe investment haven in the current uncertain financial and economic climate is expected to continue to underpin gold in the coming weeks, analysts said. Anticipated further cuts in US interest rates are also expected to add further pressure on the dollar.
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