Gold Hits Record High Oil Prices Slide

AFP/APP

London:Gold hit a record high on Friday as global stock markets diverged, with profit-taking on Wall Street while European and Asian markets gained on reassuring data about the health of the world’s biggest economy and likely US interest rate cuts.

Gold rose to a record high of $2,500.16 an ounce as investors snapped up the haven investment in the face of an increasingly likely US interest rate cut in September and heightened geopolitical risks.

“The sharp drop in bond yields amid expectations of rate cuts by the Fed” have pushed gold prices higher, said City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.

Wall Street’s major indices pulled back after rallying on Thursday following stronger-than-expected retail sales data that dispelled fears that the US economy is heading for a recession.

The blue-chip Dow slipped 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 shed 0.3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3 percent.