Gold hits one-week high on Obama victory

NDTV Profit Desk

07 Nov 2012, 12:41 PM IST

Gold extended gains on Wednesday after President Barack Obama was re-elected in the United States, paving the way for continued monetary stimulus in the world's largest economy.

The precious metal, typically seen as a hedge against inflation, in October rallied to an 11-month high above $1,795 an ounce after the US Federal Reserve announced a third round of aggressive economic stimulus in September.

Obama's victory will help gold as it means that quantitative easing will continue, said Yuichi Ikemizu, branch manager for Standard Bank in Tokyo.

"I think gold will be going back to $1,800 this year. We are going to see higher gold (prices) in the coming days, weeks and months," he added.

Gold reversed early losses to hit around $1,725 an ounce, its strongest since November 1. It stood at $1,723.19 an ounce at 0600 GMT, up $7.85, but was still well below a lifetime high around $1,920 struck in September last year.

US gold for December added $8.80 an ounce to $1,723.80.

Clear victory
Obama rolled to a second term in the White House with a clear victory over Republican challenger Mitt Romney as the Democrat overcame deep doubts about his handling of the US economy.

"We forecast gold will end the year at $1,780 an ounce and peak late in 2013 at around $1,890 an ounce," ANZ said in a report.

"We think there could be upside risks to these forecast highs, in the event of additional US policy easing or signs of inflation following the liquidity injections of the past four years."

A physical dealer in Singapore said investors had taken the opportunity to buy back after the market dropped on Friday.

"I think India has bought enough, unless there's a sudden last-minute rush," he added.

The festive season in main gold consumer India peaks in November with Diwali. Weddings also take place at this time.

But gold imports to India could fall to 550 tonnes next year, after touching 967 tonnes in 2011, as high inflation and prices bite into disposable incomes of consumers, the head of a trade body said on Tuesday.