Gold disappoints at the beginning of the year
The price of gold is currently around 7% lower than the historic
high reached at the end of December, with the major fluctuations
recorded at the beginning of this year being troublesome for
investors who let themselves be mesmerised by the spectacular rises
recorded in previous years.
One gramme of gold was yesterday worth nearly 138 lei at the NBR
(central bank) exchange rate, compared with a historic high of 147
lei, reached on December 29th of 2010. The last few days have,
however, brought a slight rebound in the price of gold, which had
fallen to 131 lei/gramme in the first week of February.
The abrupt decline recorded at the beginning of this year is in
stark contrast with the 40% leap in the price of gold recorded in
2010, after in 2009 it had climbed by over 30%. A poll conducted
last week by international news agency Bloomberg showed that five
of the analysts who accurately predicted the trend of the price of
gold in the last two years expect a further 20% growth for
2011.
Gold is considered a safe haven asset that investors turn to in
order to be protected either from high inflation or from financial
market turmoil.