Gold price hits record high as investors seek safety

Gold bars pile isolated on white background. Financial success, business investment and wealth concept. 3D illustration. [Courtesy, iStock]

The price of gold has hit a record high as demand for the precious metal remains strong amid global economic uncertainty.

The spot gold price hit $3,508.50 per ounce early on Tuesday, continuing its upwards trend which has seen it rise by nearly a third this year.

The precious metal is viewed as a safer asset for investors during times of economic uncertainty, and its price rose earlier this year after US President Donald Trump announced wide-ranging tariffs, which have upset global trade.

Analysts say the price has also been lifted by expectations that the US central bank will cut its key interest rate, making gold an even more attractive prospect for investors.

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Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault, told the BBC's Today programme that the rise in gold prices over the past few months is really down to Trump and "what he's done to geopolitics [and] what he's done to global trade".

"It was really the US election last year that really put a fire under it," he said.

Analysts also cite worries over the independence of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, as another factor driving the gold price.

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Trump has launched repeated attacks on the Federal Reserve's chair, Jerome Powell, and recently attempted to fire one of its governors, Lisa Cook.

Derren Nathan from Hargreaves Lansdown said it was Trump's "attempts to undermine the independence of the Federal Reserve Bank" that was "driving renewed interest in safe haven assets including gold".

On Monday, the head of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde warned that if Trump were to undermine the independence of the Fed, it would represent a "very serious danger" to the global economy.

She said if the Fed was forced to respond to Trump's politics, it would have a "very worrying" impact on economic stability in the US, and therefore in the rest of the world as well.

Mr Ash added that when the price of gold surges because of investor interest, it was usually tempered by a slowdown in buying from China and India - two of the biggest markets for gold jewellery.

But this time, he said gold was continuing to find demand in China and India as, rather than exiting the market during times of high prices, jewellery buyers turn towards buying investment gold products such as bars or coins.