Investing.com – Gold futures rallied to a record high on Tuesday, as a combination of concerns over the outlook for global growth and mounting worries that the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis is worsening boosted the appeal of the precious metal.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,908.95 a troy ounce during late Asian trade, surging 1.85%.
It earlier rose as much as 2.5% to trade at an all-time high of USD1,921.05 a troy ounce, eclipsing the previous high of USD1,917.90 a troy ounce it hit on August 23.
Euro-denominated gold futures rose to a record high for the second consecutive day, climbing 1.25% to trade at EUR1,366.40 a troy ounce.
Gold futures remained supported amid lingering concerns over rising debt levels in Italy, the single currency’s third largest economy, as the cost of insuring Italian sovereign debt against default rose above that of Spain for the first time since December 2009 on Monday.
A widespread strike was scheduled for Tuesday to protest against government austerity measures.
Growing expectations that the Federal Reserve would implement further stimulus measures to boost the stalling U.S. economy provided further support for gold prices.
Swiss investment bank UBS said in a report Monday that, “Additional evidence of U.S. economic weakness raises the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will announce further easing this month.”
The lender added that the implications of Friday’s dismal U.S. payrolls report and intense focus of European sovereign issues give gold “two strong reasons to rally in the coming weeks.”
Meanwhile, data from the U.S. Mint released earlier showed that sales of its American Eagle gold bullion coin climbed 74% in August to 112,000 ounces, the highest since January. The Mint also sold 3.68 million ounces of silver coins last month.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery slipped 0.54% to trade at USD42.83 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery added 0.14% to trade USD4.066 a pound.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,908.95 a troy ounce during late Asian trade, surging 1.85%.
It earlier rose as much as 2.5% to trade at an all-time high of USD1,921.05 a troy ounce, eclipsing the previous high of USD1,917.90 a troy ounce it hit on August 23.
Euro-denominated gold futures rose to a record high for the second consecutive day, climbing 1.25% to trade at EUR1,366.40 a troy ounce.
Gold futures remained supported amid lingering concerns over rising debt levels in Italy, the single currency’s third largest economy, as the cost of insuring Italian sovereign debt against default rose above that of Spain for the first time since December 2009 on Monday.
A widespread strike was scheduled for Tuesday to protest against government austerity measures.
Growing expectations that the Federal Reserve would implement further stimulus measures to boost the stalling U.S. economy provided further support for gold prices.
Swiss investment bank UBS said in a report Monday that, “Additional evidence of U.S. economic weakness raises the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will announce further easing this month.”
The lender added that the implications of Friday’s dismal U.S. payrolls report and intense focus of European sovereign issues give gold “two strong reasons to rally in the coming weeks.”
Meanwhile, data from the U.S. Mint released earlier showed that sales of its American Eagle gold bullion coin climbed 74% in August to 112,000 ounces, the highest since January. The Mint also sold 3.68 million ounces of silver coins last month.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery slipped 0.54% to trade at USD42.83 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery added 0.14% to trade USD4.066 a pound.