Gold climbs to record above $1,910 on growth fears

SINGAPORE: Spot gold soared to an all-time high above $1,910 on Tuesday, scoring a record top for a fourth consecutive session, as persistent worries about global economic growth burnished bullion’s safe-haven appeal.

The precious metal was headed for a seventh straight session of rise and a monthly gain of more than 16 percent, highest since September 1999.

Spot gold gained 0.8 percent to strike an unprecedented $1,911.46 an ounce, before easing to trade flat at $1,897.05 by 0626 GMT.

US gold rose 1.4 percent to a record high of $1,917.90, and retraced to $1,900.80.

Investors are waiting for flash purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data for Germany, France and the euro zone later in the day, with a weak number likely to exacerbate fears about bailing out the bloc’s indebted peripheral states.

“We are not hearing much good news out of Europe or the United States,” said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia.

“The picture looks pretty bleak in the short term… For the time being investors are happy looking at gold as safe haven in these troubled times, and will continue to do so until we see something positive and sustainable.”

On the chart, gold has been in the overbought territory since early August, with the Relative Strength Index hovering about 83.

Technical analysis suggested gold could pull back to $1,860 during the day, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.