The bullion rocket ship continues heading through the stratosphere, with gold crossing the $2,000 threshold for the first time ever yesterday and silver reaching a multi-year high of $25 the same day. Gold continues rising today, trading at around $2,040 as of this writing. Silver, meanwhile, hovers around $27 and appears poised to make more gains.
A major explosion that rocked the city of Beirut yesterday rattled investors’ nerves. The explosion, a devastating event that occurred at a fireworks factory and killed dozens while injuring thousands, has been ruled an accident. But that did not allay concerns that other acute tragedies could occur, leading to more economic mayhem in a year that has already seen a global pandemic and social unrest in many Western-culture cities.
Greater concerns about the strength of the dollar and have also helped pushed bullion higher. Conversely, the hope for economic recovery has, too. After all, gold and especially silver have major industrial components and are expected to see increased demand as production of electronics, medicines, and other goods utilizing the precious metals ramps up.
This could have an especially strong impact on silver, which sees by far greater industrial use than gold and could be in slim supply if manufacturing sees a strong third and fourth quarter. Speculators continue buying pre-1933 United States gold coinage, pre-1965 90% silver coins, and other bullion products as they hedge their bets on precious metals.
