Gold tops $1,670 as recovery jitters persist
Gold set a new record high today, rising above US$1,670 per ounce as demand for safe harbour assets remained strong amid lingering concerns that the recovery in the US is slowing.
Traders appear to be reluctant to buy riskier assets amid caution ahead of Friday's key non-farm payrolls report.
In addition to that, it remains unclear whether the US is going to lose its AAA rating from Standard & Poor's as a result of the prolonged negotiations that ended in an 11th hour deal to save the US from a debt default last Sunday.
Credit rating agencies Moody's and Fitch responded to the debt deal by leaving the US credit rating unchanged. However, Moody's changed the outlook for the US debt to negative, leaving the door open for a downgrade.
Standard & Poor's, which is perceived as a more influential credit rating agency than Moody's and Fitch, is yet to announce its decision on the US debt rating. Back in July, S&P said there was a 50 percent chance that the US would lose its top notch rating.
Yesterday, South Korea and Thailand gave gold a further boost by purchasing US$10 billion worth of the yellow metal.
Gold traded at US$1,671/oz this afternoon. Silver climbed 1 cent to US$41.85/oz, while platinum dropped US$12 to US$1,783/oz.
Today's top risers in the sector were:
ECR Minerals (LON:ECR), up 9 percent at 1.37 pence at midday
Fresnillo (LON:FRES), up 4.5 percent at 1,898 pence
Yamana Gold (LON:YAU), up 4.5 percent at 848 pence
Peninsular Gold (LON:PGL), up 4 percent at 35.38 pence
Hochschild Mining (LON:HOC), up 4 percent at 505.5 pence
The top fallers in the sector were:
North River Resources (LON:NRRP), down 14 percent at 1.83 pence
Minco (LON:MIO), down 12.5 percent at 2.85 pence
African Mining And Exploration (LON:AME), down 8 percent at 7.61 pence
Orsu Metals (LON:OSU), down 7.5 percent at 12 pence
Jubilee Platinum (LON:JLP), down 6.5 percent at 17.69 pence
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