Commodities markets around the world have reacted with caution to the unexpected result in the US Presidential election with gold rising by 4% and the price of silver also up on European and Asian markets.
The price of gold rose sharply overnight, spiking at around midnight (UK time) as news began emerging that Trump had overtaken Hillary Clinton as favourite to win the election. The gold price then fell back slightly at around 5am.
This morning’s gold fix on the London bullion market was £1050.42 (per troy ounce), which was up from £1034.26 yesterday.
With stockmarkets and other commodities such as industrial metals falling sharply, money has flowed into ‘safe havens’, including precious metals, due to the uncertainty caused by Trump’s victory.
Whether the price of gold and silver will rise to a point where greater amounts of antique items get scrapped remains to be seen. Brighton precious metals dealer Michael Bloomstein said: “We live in uncertain times and you would normally expect the price of gold to go up under such circumstances. I predict there will be lots more peaks and troughs before things settle down.”
He also said that the swings in precious metals prices were less pronounced compared to those immediately following the UK’s Brexit vote in June. Back then, gold rose by over £100 per troy ounce but then underwent a brief price-correction within 24 hours.
Gold has risen in value by over 40% so far this year with most commentators predicting further rises ahead due to growing uncertainty with regard to global events.
