Gold Prices: This Chart Shows Just How Wrong the Gold Skeptics Were

Gold prices are the best-performing asset so far this year, as mounting worries over global economic growth have spurred safe haven buying.

As of today, gold and silver have rallied 12% and 11%, respectively. That compares to a 13% decline in natural gas and a 12% decline in the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite Index.

Gold futures finished near $1,200 an ounce on Wednesday for their second-best settlement since mid-June. March silver ended at $15.27 an ounce, after briefly reaching $15.43 earlier in the week—the precious metal’s highest level since early November.

“Gold was like a beach ball that had been pushed too low in the water and is now bouncing higher with a vengeance,”MarketWatch quoted Mark O’Byrne, research director at Dublin-based GoldCore. (Source: “Gold settles near $1,200, at highest level since June,” MarketWatch, February 8, 2016.)

Among currencies that are depreciating this year are the Mexican peso (which is down eight percent), the Russian ruble (which has weakened seven percent), and the Australian dollar (down more than two percent).

Increasing signs that global growth is fading—led by the U.S. and China, the world’s largest economies—have prompted investors to sell stocks and seek safety in hard assets.

Those weak data led investors to expect fewer U.S. rate hikes this year than the four they had been pricing in a few weeks ago, perhaps only one. (Source: “Gold price surges to highest level since June as share prices slide,” Reuters, February 8, 2016.)

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