Gold shines brightest in history as price hits all-time high

Photo for illustration purposes only. – BERNAMA FILE PIX

SHAH ALAM – The global gold price has hit an all-time high, reaching US$2,420 (RM11,537.30) per ounce or RM370.93 per gramme.

According to the CIMB Treasury and Markets Research report, this was attributed to the implications of Iran’s attack on Israel.

With the increase in the gold price, the trend of buying and selling gold was expected to remain robust during this festive season compared to previous years.

Therefore, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) Islamic Banking and Finance senior lecturer Dr Mohd Faisol Ibrahim said he anticipated that numerous investors or gold savers will seize this opportunity to engage in the pawnbroking trend during the festive season in order to gain profit.

“The rise in gold prices is like an opportunity for people to get extra money by pledging their physical gold at pawnshops like Ar Rahnu, especially after celebrating and spending big during Aidilfitri.

“The significant rise in gold prices will cause most of the people to pawn gold to support household finances, while a small portion will sell gold to benefit from these price changes,” he told Sinar.

Faisol said this was because the gold value financing rate can be obtained between 70 to 85 per cent of the current gold price.

“Previously, the sale and collateral of gold was for the purpose of emergency and desperation for life factors, not based on profit.

“However, the situation this festive season may be different with people opting for pawnbroking to get multiple profits following the increase in the price of gold in the market,” he said.

The conflict in West Asia that escalated after Iran launched a wave of drones and missiles in retaliation against Israel on April 13 has triggered a rise in gold and crude oil prices.

Purchases made by the central bank amid geopolitical tensions continued to fuel the precious metal’s momentum, while strong United States (US) economic data failed to dampen gold’s appeal.

CRUDE OIL PRICE

Besides gold, the Brent crude oil price also matched its daily highest level at US$92 per barrel to close 0.8 per cent higher at US$90.5 per barrel.

CIMB Treasury and Markets Research stated that the US Treasury yields fell sharply with short-closing activity which strengthened the rally after heavy losses on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Faisol said the series of wars between the two countries will have implications for their economy which included the valuable assets of a country such as oil, gas and gold.

“If we look at the history of the modern world, the series of wars and conquests that took place between one country and another before were not only caused by political issues but also economic issues.

“Therefore, the government needs to formulate a comprehensive strategy so that gold stock reserves abroad and within the country can be increased by ensuring that the country’s purchasing power is in a stable and strong state, especially the value of the Malaysian ringgit,” he said.

GOLD PRICE INFO

2014-2024 Gold Price Year (RM):

2014 – RM 135.05 per gramme

2015 – RM 139.57 per gramme

2016 – RM 166.81 per gramme

2017 – RM 174.93 per gramme

2018 – RM 168.57 per gramme

2019 – RM 177.08 per gramme

2020 – RM 251.37 per gramme

2021 – RM 241.24 per gramme

2022 – RM 265 per gramme

2023 – RM 316 per gramme

2024 – RM 370.93 per gramme (as of April 2024)

Source: Public Gold