It’s been a rollercoaster week so far for the price of gold as investors reacted to continued concerns about the slowdown of the global economy.
Considered a safe haven in volatile times, the dash for gold has seen the precious metal increase in value by as much as 20 per cent so far in 2016.
This week, gold hit a high of £895.44 per troy ounce at 02:15 on Tuesday (1 March), but fell to £877.58 at 12:45 on Wednesday. This morning (Thursday 3), it stood at £884.40 at 09:00.
There are differing views in the market whether the strong gold price will be maintained. Societe Generale believes the rally cannot be sustained because it reckons fears of a recession in the US are being over-stated. However, Deutsche Bank expects gold prices to remain stable for the rest of the year.
Now may be a good time to sell to extract value from your investment, but equally, it may be worth waiting to see whether the gold value trajectory will continue to rise. It’s impossible to predict with any accuracy what the market will do, and the strong showing by gold so far this year has taken a number of analysts by surprise.
Indian jewellers strike over gold tax
The India Bullion and Jewellers Association has called a strike after the Indian government introduced a one per cent excise duty on gold jewellery in this week’s budget.
The last time the government tried to impose a gold jewellery tax in 2012, it was forced to back down as a result of industrial action taken by jewellers. It remains to be seen whether the jewellers will be as influential on government policy this time.
The Indian budget also failed to reduce the unpopular pure gold import tax, which stands at 10 per cent. In addition, the import duty on semi-pure gold doré bars was raised from 8.0 per cent to 8.75 per cent.
Importers have found it cheaper to bring doré into India and then extract and refine the gold. However, this may now cost almost as much as importing pure bullion due to the duty increase.
India is aiming to reduce its gold imports, which are estimated to account for around 25 per cent of the country’s annual trade deficit.
Superhero coins minted
The Royal Canadian Mint has introduced a limited edition run of gold and silver coins to mark the release of the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice action movie.
There is one gold coin, two silver coins and a cupronickel coin in the collection. Just 3,000 of the 12 gram, 14 carat $100 gold coins are being made. It features an image of the two superheroes standing back to back on the reverse.
Both the silver coins, which are 99.99 pure, are $30 editions. There will be 7,000 of Batman v Superman silver coins produced and 12,500 made of the Batman v Superman Trinity silver coins. The former weighs in at two ounces and the latter is just over one troy ounce in weight.
The Royal Canadian Mint has already issued a number of new gold and silver coins this year, celebrating everything from the country’s wildlife to a four leaf clover silver coin adorned with green enamel.
