Gold () April futures opened at $5,194 per troy ounce on Wednesday, down 0.9% from Tuesday’s closing price of $5,242.10. The gold price has risen nearly 19% year to date.
The outlook for interest rates, a primary driver for gold prices, remains uncertain as the Iran war continues. The war has disrupted the global oil supply, increasing gas prices in the U.S. . A resurgence of inflation in the U.S. would limit the Fed’s ability to lower interest rates, even as the labor market shows continued weakness.
The U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest report. February Consumer Price Index data, due later today, could shed more light on the interest-rate outlook. Analysts expect an annual CPI increase of 2.4%, consistent with January’s number.
High interest rates can suppress gold prices by supporting yields for cash and fixed-income assets, which compete with gold for investor dollars.
Learn more: Who decides what gold is worth? How gold prices are determined.
The opening price of gold futures on Wednesday was 0.9% lower than Tuesday’s close. Here’s how the opening gold price has changed versus last week, month, and year:
One week ago: +1.2%
One month ago: +2.9%
One year ago: +80.1%
On Jan. 29, gold’s one-year gain was 95.6%.
24/7 gold price tracking: Don’t forget you can monitor the current price of gold on Yahoo Finance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Want to learn more about the current top-performing companies in the gold industry? Explore a list of the top-performing companies in the gold industry using the Yahoo Finance Screener. You can create your own screeners with over 150 different screening criteria.
There are different ways to invest in gold, and each has pros and cons. Four common options are:
Physical gold
Gold mining stocks
Gold ETFs
Gold futures
Physical gold includes jewelry, gold bars, and gold coins. Some prefer physical gold over other forms because it’s tangible and easy to purchase. You can easily buy a gold necklace at the mall or gold bars at Costco ().
Intrigued by Costco’s precious metals offering? to learn key considerations for precious metals investing, the details of the Costco selection, and tips for managing your new investment.
Physical gold pros and cons
The advantages of physical gold include:
Readily accessible for use: If you keep your physical gold at home, it is easily available to use as a medium of exchange in an economic emergency.
No added volatility or ongoing fees: If you hold the gold yourself, “you eliminate counterparty risk and storage fees or expense ratios,” explained Brett Elliott, director of content and SEO at American Precious Metals Exchange (APMEX). You also avoid the added business volatility associated with gold mining stocks, as explained below.
Learn more:
The disadvantages of physical gold include:
Risk of theft or loss: Physical…
Source: finance.yahoo.com
