Gold price jumps to near 7-year high

Image: Adapted from Goldcorp video

The gold price jumped to a fresh near 7-year high on Tuesday as worries about the global economic impact of the coronavirus mutated into expectations of massive monetary stimulus to counteract the damage done in China and elsewhere.

Gold thrives when policy is loose and money is cheap, and usually moves in the opposite direction of interest rates. China is expected to pump billions into its financial system to revive its economy post-outbreak, and most developed economies never emerged from the ultra-low (or negative rate) environment of the 2008 global financial crisis.

On one of the busiest trading days of the year, April gold futures, the most active contract with nearly 40m ounces exchanging hands, gained $20 - touching a high of $1,608.20 an ounce before closing at $1,603.30.

The metal closed above $1,600 on the Comex market in New York for the first time since April 2013 as physically-backed gold ETF investors continue to pile into the market and holdings set fresh record highs.

Gold stocks were swept in the rally lead by South African names including Gold Fields, up 11.2%, and Harmony Gold, up 9.9% in New York. Units in Sibanye Gold also benefitted from a fresh record high in palladium, jumping 6.6% and bringing its gains just over the past week to more than 20%.

Top miners Barrick Gold and Newmont Goldcorp advanced by 4.2% and 3.4% respectively. Barrick's market capitalization reached $36.4 billion in New York while Newmont's market value now tops $37 billion.

On Monday, Colorado-based Newmont reported gold mineral reserves of just over 100m attributable ounces for 2019, the largest ever in company history.