With the dollar tumbling to a 15-month low, gold spot prices have risen more than $30 over the past five trading days. That’s pushed the yellow metal toward its all-time record high of $1,444.40 an ounce – a record that was set on March 7.
Investors have shown a preference for precious metals as a safe haven in the face of turmoil in the MENA region and the devastation in Japan. Traditionally, the dollar has served as a refuge of last resort, but analysts argue that the Fed’s quantitative easing program has encouraged investors to look elsewhere.
“The dollar is not currently a safe haven in times of macroeconomic uncertainty because any downward revision in global and U.S. growth automatically means a higher risk of QE3,” Beat Siegenthaler, senior currency strategist at UBS, wrote in a note to clients (per MarketWatch).
The Fed’s policies are making it more difficult to maintain investor confidence in the dollar, but an unexpected rise in interest rates or a premature halt to QE2 would likely spook the markets as the U.S. recovery looks promising but is far from a sure bet. The end result is a move into gold, silver and other precious metals as investors look for ways to protect their assets.
Gold spot prices spiked as high as $1,435 an ounce in early trading yesterday; less $10 shy of all-time record high prices. It’s a trend that will likely continue so long as the threat of QE3 hovers over currency markets.
Yesterday’s top-performing gold mining stocks (mostly microcaps) all rose more than 10 percent with Vista Gold Corp. (AMEX:VGZ) sprinting up 19.1 percent. Here’s a look yesterday’s other winning precious metals stocks:
• Mines Management, Inc. (AMEX:MGN) +18.2%
• Alexco Resource Corp. (AMEX:AXU) +12.3%
• Kobex Minerals Inc. (AMEX:KXM) +11.3%
• Kimber Resources, Inc. (AMEX:KBX) +10.3%
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Tags: AXU, DXY, gold bullion, gold price, KBX, KXM, MGN
