Gold Hits Record as ‘Go-to Asset’ Amid Debt Stalemate

Maria Kolesnikova and Glenys Sim
Bloomberg
Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Gold surged to an all-time high in New York as investors sought to protect their wealth against the possibility of a U.S. default that may come as soon as next week amid a standoff over the country’s $14.3 trillion debt limit.

U.S. politicians remain deadlocked after a House vote on Speaker John Boehner’s two-step plan to raise the debt ceiling and pare the deficit was postponed from today. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the measure, sending the dollar to a record low against the Swiss franc yesterday, while pushing the cost of insuring U.S. debt to a 17-month high.

“Virtually everybody expects the debt-ceiling issue in the U.S. to be resolved,” said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodity research at Commerzbank AG. “On the other hand, the huge debt burden is not going to disappear following the agreement, and if the agreement is not reached, it would be a massive blow to the market.”

Gold for December delivery rose $4.40, or 0.3 percent, to $1,623.70 an ounce by 8:13 a.m. on the Comex in New York after reaching a record $1,628.10. Immediate-delivery gold added 0.1 percent to $1,621.40 an ounce in London after touching an all- time high of $1,625.70.

Full story here.

Comment Rules

Comments are closed.