Bullion rose as much as 2 per cent on Jan 28 to US$5,282.01 an ounce as at 3.31pm in Singapore, having jumped 3.4 per cent in the previous session – its biggest one-day gain since April. Silver climbed 2.1 per cent to US$114.38 an ounce.
US President Donald Trump said on Jan 27 that
he was not concerned about a drop in the value of the US dollar
, which has dragged the world’s premier reserve currency to its weakest level in nearly four years. A gauge of the US currency fell 1.1 per cent on Jan 27, its biggest one-day drop since April.
That decline, combined with heightened geopolitical risks and investor flight from currencies and Treasuries, has sparked a wave of investment demand for precious metals. Gold has rallied about 22 per cent since the beginning of the year, smashing through US$5,000 an ounce for the first time this week. Over the same period, silver has soared roughly 60 per cent.
A massive sell-off in the Japanese bond market is the latest example of concerns over heavy fiscal spending, while speculation that the US may intervene to support the yen has weighed on the dollar, making precious metals cheaper for most buyers.
Mr Trump told reporters in Iowa on Jan 27 that the dollar was “doing great” and that he expected currency values to fluctuate. “No, I think it’s great,” he said when reporters asked if he was worried about losses in the currency.
