Gold Prices Falling: Are Investors Dumping Gold?

Are gold prices falling? A report by Jan Harvey for Reuters suggested that the high price of gold may finally be on its way down. Investors appear to be fleeing from New York’s SPDR Gold Trust, which Harvey described as “the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund.”

According to the Associated Press for the Christian Science Monitor, some investors thought gold might rise because of the uncertainty after Italy’s election on Monday. “Nervous investors may turn to gold as a safe haven,” the AP explained. However, it didn’t work out that way. On Wednesday, gold futures meant to be delivered in April fell over 1% to less than $1,600 an ounce.

Jack Phillips at the Epoch Times reported that gold fell another 1.1% today. The glittering metal has fallen $37.40 an ounce in two days, to a price of $1,578.10 an ounce.

“It’s still not clear who’s running the country [of Italy],” the Christian Science Monitor quoted a senior investment strategist as saying. But the markets don’t seem to be worried.

Harvey’s report said: “This month’s 3.8 percent price drop has been accompanied by an outflow of nearly 70 tonnes from the GLD fund, accounting for more than 5 percent of its total holdings.” When asked why, Credit Suisse analyst Tom Kendall said frankly that he didn’t know who was selling off the gold or why.

However, some observers do have a theory. According to CNN, the stock market enjoyed “triple digit gains” on Tuesday and Wednesday, and closed just slightly below its all-time record high today. Phillips quoted multiple experts who said that the thriving DOW has attracted investors out of gold and back into
equities.

Not all of us buy the coveted metal as an investment. For those of us who prefer it for its beauty in jewelry, the falling gold prices can only be a relief.