Gold's price rise above Rs. 49,600 and likely to soar higher in New Year

New Delhi: Gold which has always been a reliable and safe haven for investment especially during financial hardships and uncertain times—as compared to other investments such as stocks, is now likely to glitter more and even soar to 63,000 per 10 grams next year amid expectations of fresh stimulus measures and a weaker American dollar.

As told by Prof Arvind Sahay, Chairperson, India Gold Policy Centre at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) to Zee Media, gold prices in top 17 consuming countries are higher by 22 per cent on average, varying between 13 per cent to 60 per cent and the gains were driven by strong investment demand.

Gold on Thursday gained Rs 385 to Rs 49,624 per 10 gram in the national capital, while Silver witnessed buying as it gained Rs 1,102 to Rs 66,954 per kg, from Rs 65,852 per kg in the previous trade. The price of the gold had reached an all-time high of Rs 56,191 per 10 grams at MCX and USD 2,075 an ounce in the international market in August.

"We think gold prices still have scope to increase by 20 to 25 per cent in 2021-22 in a certain scenario.

However, he said that given the current scenario, interest rates in the dollar and Euro zones continue to remain soft, trade frictions continue to simmer between the US and EU on one side and China on the other.

"Geopolitical tensions and technological rivalry over semiconductors ratchets up a notch or two, Covid -19 cases continue to rise and the vaccine does not perform as well as expected for another 6-12 months, new stimuli get announced and bitcoin gets even more volatile," he added.

He also opined that one needs to acknowledge that future earnings are now more being subject to increased risks with the rise in leveraging.

According to him, more interestingly there is a hunt across the global markets for low hanging fruit, one such is Cryptocurrencies, its surge has been phenomenal. With the design of BTC meaning that only 21 million can exist and 18.5 million already having been mined, current trends suggest a further rise in BTC price.

"Since many institutions are now buying BTC as a part of their asset allocation, the question is what will be the allocation. The shift of liquidity to different asset classes (BTC amongst those) has kept gold prices range-bound recently," he further added.