Gold Jumps to Record High Amid Central Bank Buying, Search for Safe Havens, and Bets on Rate Cuts
15 minutes ago
Gold futures jumped to a record high of nearly $2,150 when markets opened Sunday evening before pulling back slightly Monday morning.
Despite Monday’s decline, gold remained comfortably above $2,000 an ounce, a price rarely seen before this year. Part of the reason for the record prices: central banks are stocking up. Central banks bought more gold in the first nine months of 2023 than they did in all but one full year since 2010. That puts them on pace to break the record set last year when banks accumulated more than 1,080 tonnes.
The precious metal has risen steadily since early October when Hamas attacked Israel, sending investors in search of safe-haven assets amid concerns about a regional conflict.
On top of geopolitical risks, prices have also been buoyed by expectations of interest rate cuts next year. High interest rates can temper demand for gold, which is seen as a reliable store of value but, unlike U.S. Treasury bonds, does not pay interest.
Gold, which is priced in U.S. dollars, has also been supported by a weakening dollar. A weak dollar makes gold less expensive for international buyers.
Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket
1 hr 15 min ago
Gains:
- Coinbase Global (COIN): Shares of the cryptocurrency exchange jumped about 9% as the price of Bitcoin surged above $41,000 for the first time in nearly 2 years.
- Spotify Technology S.A. (SPOT): Shares of the music streaming service rose more than 6% after it said it would cut 17% of jobs in its third round of layoffs this year.
- Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER): Shares rose 4% after it was announced late last week that the ride-hailing company would join the S&P 500 effective Dec. 18.
Losses:
- Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK): Shares of the airline fell 13% after it said it would buy its competitor Hawaiian Airlines (HA) for $1.9 billion. Hawaiian shares jumped 180% on the news, though remained below Alaska’s proposed purchase price of $18.
- Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU): Shares of the athletic apparel maker fell nearly 2% after Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to equal weight from overweight, citing the stock’s rally that has it up more than 40% this year.
- Meta Platforms Inc. (META): Shares fell nearly 2% after a Spanish media group filed a $600 million lawsuit accusing the company of failing to comply with EU data privacy laws.
Stock Futures Slip To Start the Week
2 hours ago
Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.2% in premarket trading.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.3%.
Nasdaq 100 futures traded 0.4% lower.
