Gold price spiked to another new high

The price of gold surged to hit a new high of $2,500 an ounce against a confluence of geopolitical events and economic trends.

Evidently, the yellow metal is in demand as a safe haven from all kinds of factors at the moment.

To name just a couple, there are fresh concerns of China’s economy, and escalating tensions over Taiwan and also the Red Sea, plus a separate spike in geopolitical uncertainty after the Iranian president has died in a helicopter crash.

Economically, Chinese retail sales data came in softer than expected, meanwhile, in America more comfortable inflation metrics may potentially mean rate cuts can come sooner – and when they do gold prices will likely move higher again.

Analysts at Stifel said prices were rising today "on the back of significantly weaker retail sales data from China" and after a big upward move last week that was largely the result of the soft US inflation number which "once again fueling up the hopes of earlier-than-anticipated Fed rate cuts".

"Once rate cuts start to happen, it will drive another leg up for the gold price, with cuts likely to happen more rapidly than currently expected,” analysts at investment bank Stifel said in a note.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown said that gold and oil were claiming in tandem "following the confirmation of the death of Iran’s president, and the health of King Salman of Saudi Arabia being the subject of speculation".