Gold hit a record in New York on Monday, with the spot price hitting a sixth record high for November, largely on the back of strong Japanese economic data.
Gold hit $US1144 ($NZ1527) on Monday on the Comex division of the New York Stock Exchange and by noon yesterday it had eased to $US1139, but was buoyed at that price by a two-tonne $72 million sale by the International Monetary Fund to Mauritius' central bank. The IMF has now off-loaded at least 202 tonnes of a total 403 tonnes it has had for sale since September.
Silver prices have similarly rallied to rise by about $US1 to $US18.39 an ounce, its highest price since July 2008.
Most of the overall recent strength in gold prices stems from a recent 200-tonne Indian Reserve Bank purchase for $NZ9.3 billion and investors looking to hedge against inflation in the face of weakening major currencies around the world.
However, Craigs Investment Partners broker Peter McIntyre said the industrial use of gold and silver in electronics manufacturing, coupled with the release of strong Japanese data, had probably boosted the record global spot gold price earlier this week.
