Gold Price Jumps, Set for 12th Straight Annual Gain

GOLD PRICE NEWS – The gold price turned sharply higher on Monday as it sets its sights on a 12th straight year of gains.  The spot price of gold stabilized near $1,663 per ounce this morning, but jumped to $1,681 in early afternoon trading.  The rebound in gold prices coincided with a rally in the broader financial markets amid rising optimism that a last-minute fiscal cliff resolution may materialize.

Silver advanced alongside the price of gold, rising from near unchanged at $30.10 this morning to as high as $30.46 per ounce.  Other precious metals also headed into the black, with platinum futures climbing 1.0% to $1,537.40 per ounce and palladium tacking on 0.4% to $703.25 per ounce.  Among cyclical commodities, copper futures jumped 1.8% to $3.65 per ounce and crude oil added 0.7% to $91.43 per barrel.

Gold stocks were buoyed by a combination of strength in the gold price and broader equity markets.  The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) advanced by $0.88, or 2.0%, to $45.81 per share while the S&P 500 Index rose 0.6% to 1,410.47.

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A few of today’s largest advancers in the gold stocks sector included Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM), Goldcorp (GG), and Yamana Gold (AUY).  Shares of AEM climbed by 3.0% to $52.18, GG by 2.0% to $36.31, and AUY by 2.1% to $17.09.

With today’s strength in precious metals, the prices of gold and silver extended their gains in 2012 to 7.2% and 9.2%, respectively.  For the yellow metal, this put it on pace for its smallest annual advance since 2008, but nonetheless kept its impressive 12-year winning streak alive.

In addition, although the gold price failed this year to reach a new all-time high in U.S. dollar terms, it was able to do so in several other currencies – including the euro, Swiss franc, and Brazilian real.

Gold prices were supported this year by negative real interest rates, purchases from central banks in many emerging economies, and an even larger set of unprecedented accommodative monetary policies developed-economy central banks, among many other factors.  Given the likelihood for these trends to continue in 2013, the long-term prospects for the price of gold remain quite favorable.