Gold is a lustrous precious metal with many unique properties. It is attractive in colour and brightness, highly malleable, durable and usually found in nature in a relatively pure form. Appreciated far beyond its industrial usage, gold is one of the most widely-traded metal commodities.
Gold has a lower correlation to many asset classes, making it a widely used tool for diversification. Over the decades, the metal has attracted international investors keen to balance their portfolio and hedge against any financial uncertainty, inflation, deflation or currency devaluation. Compared to other precious metals used for investment, gold has the most effective safe haven properties across a number of countries.
According to the historical gold price USD chart, the commodity hit an all-time high of $1,895 per ounce on September 5, 2011.
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Like most commodities, the gold spot price is driven by the laws of supply and demand.
Gold deposits are rare and difficult to find, making its extraction from mines a time-consuming and expensive activity. China, Australia, Russia, the US, Canada, Indonesia, Peru and South Africa are the world’s largest producers of the metal.
However, most of the gold ever mined still exists in an accessible form, such as jewellery or bullion, and can be brought back onto the market. Given the large quantity of the metal stored above ground compared to its annual production, the gold price is mainly affected by changes in sentiment, which, in turn, influences market supply and demand accordingly.
The global consumption of gold is mainly made up of jewellery, which accounts for about 50 per cent of its total usage, and investments which account for 40 per cent. As gold has high malleability, ductility, resistance to corrosion and other unique properties, the remaining 10 per cent of demand comes from industrial applications where the metal is used in tech gadgets, dentistry and heat shields.
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The gold market is subject to speculation and volatility as any other market. The demand for jewellery is fairly constant. However, economic downturns may lead to some temporary reductions in demand from this industry.
On the other hand, demand from investors, including central banks, tends to inversely track with economic and market sentiment. For example, during the times of economic turbulence, investors often buy gold and, based on the rising demand, boost its price higher.
When investing in gold, it is crucial to conduct fundamental analysis, studying various international economic indicators, such as GDP growth rates, interest rates, inflation, productivity and energy prices.
With Capital.com’s comprehensive gold spot price chart you can quickly find the gold spot rate live and trace the historical value of the precious metal over the years.
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