A mixed bag of U.S. economic data on Tuesday – slower services growth but a jump in new goods orders – further clouded an already fuzzy picture for rate policy. And overnight surges in gold and bitcoin to record peaks highlight a level of discomfort with inflation and debt that is pushing investors into assets with limited supply.
Central banks themselves seem to have turned gold bugs lately, some burned by paper losses in their bond portfolios, with ANZ analysts noting a near tripling of central banks’ share of world gold demand to 25-30%.
Spot gold flew as high as $2,141 an ounce on Tuesday and traded around $2,124 in the Asia day on Wednesday. Bitcoin broke above $69,000 before recoiling below $60,000.
Bank of America suggests that U.S. national debt rising by $1 trillion every 100 days is driving investors into “debt debasement” trades such as gold and bitcoin.
Around Asia, investors saw little in China’s latest growth and policy plans to provoke a shift in their caution over exposure to what’s been a laggard market for several years. Hong Kong stocks ticked higher and mainland stocks ticked lower.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/3WQLKKINEVLLFM5EKZ3KMLA6TM.jpg "Gold glitters while traders look to Powell 42")
