Gold prices reached a record high yesterday, with safe-haven demand continuing to support prices as traders monitored escalating tensions in the Middle East and the increasingly tight US presidential election race.
Bullion climbed to an all-time high of about US$2,732.82 an ounce, topping last week’s peak by a few dollars. The bullish sentiment has also spilled over to silver, which was trading at the highest since 2012, while palladium and platinum also rose.
Meanwhile, oil prices edged higher following a more than 7 percent drop last week, with Brent crude futures up 1 percent at US$73.76 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures up 1.17 percent to US$70.74 a barrel.
Photo: Bloomberg
Markets are focused on geopolitical risks in the Middle East, with Israel discussing its next attack on Iran after a Hezbollah drone exploded next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home on Saturday.
US President Joe Biden and his administration have urged the renewal of ceasefire negotiations in the region, although Israeli hardliners oppose concessions.
Traders were also repositioning portfolios ahead of the US election on Nov. 5.
Polls show the contest between former US president Donald Trump and US Vice President Kamala Harris could be the closest in a generation. Investors typically seek safety in gold in times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Gold futures might rise to average US$3,000 an ounce in the fourth quarter of next year, Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar said in a note on Monday.
The US Federal Reserve’s rate-cutting cycle would likely drive weakness in the US dollar, he added. A lower greenback makes bullion cheaper for many buyers, as it is priced in the US currency.
Bullion is one of this year’s strongest performing commodities, with gains of more than 30 percent so far this year. Rate-cut optimism fueled the most recent advances as the Fed kicked off its easing cycle last month. Robust central bank buying has also been a long-standing pillar of support for gold prices.
REGIONAL COMPETITION: Over the past few years the Philippines has lost ground to neighbors such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, a Philippine official said The Philippines is trying to enlist Taiwanese chip giants to expand in semiconductors, a bid to catch up with its neighbors who are emerging as significant suppliers in the industry. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) are among companies the Philippines is reaching out to as it seeks equipment and expertise to build out chip fabrication operations, said Dan Lachica, head of the Southeast Asian country’s main electronics industry group, the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc (SEIPI). The association is working with Philippine officials in Taiwan to talk with potential
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) halted shipments to a customer this month after its semiconductors were sent to China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), potentially breaching US sanctions, a government official said. The US slapped sanctions on Huawei in 2019, and expanded them the following year, over fears its technology could be used for Beijing’s espionage operations. The restrictions prevent TSMC from selling semiconductors to Huawei. However, TSMC discovered on Oct. 11 that chips made for a “specific customer” had ended up with the Chinese company, a Taiwanese official with knowledge of the incident said on the condition of anonymity. TSMC “immediately activated
Nvidia Corp is set to unveil investment plans for Thailand, joining Alphabet Inc and Microsoft Corp, as Southeast Asia becomes a hot spot for building artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and manufacturing the components that power them. The US chip designing firm would announce investments during chief executive officer Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) trip to Bangkok in December, Thai Minister of Commerce Pichai Naripthaphan said on Monday. He declined to give details on the investment or how much the company would bring into Thailand. The investment by Nvidia could lead to more funding “with related clusters following suit,” Pichai said. Clinching
Starbucks Corp might have the more recognizable name, but 7-Eleven’s City Cafe remains the king of Taiwan’s fresh coffee market, helped by the convenience store chain’s extensive market presence and product diversification. President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商), which runs both the 7-Eleven and Starbucks store chains in Taiwan, established the City Cafe brand in 2004. The brand took off when actress Gwei Lun-mei (桂綸鎂) became its spokesperson in 2007. City Cafe’s sales exceeded NT$10 billion (US$311.69 million) for the first time in 2015, surpassing the revenue of Starbucks Taiwan, and rose to more than NT$17 billion last year, exceeding the NT$14.98