Gold rally pushes US reserves to record USD1 trillion valuation
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The news: Gold reserves held by the US Treasury surpassed USD1 trillion ($1.52 trillion) in value on Monday as the precious metal continued to break all time highs ahead of a US government shutdown.
The numbers: Gold prices climbed above USD3,824.50 an ounce on Monday, pushing the world’s largest gold reserve past the USD1 trillion milestone, in a 45% rally this year. By 10:00am ET (12:00am AEST) on Monday, prices had continued climbing to hit USD3,857.80 an ounce.
Bullion’s official value, however, based on the USD42.22 an ounce price set by Congress in 1973, is fixed at just over USD11 billion.
The context: Gold has been rallying throughout the year on concerns over government debt levels, inflation, and questions around the status of the US dollar as a reserve assets. The FT reports that a major driver of the recent surge is tied to western investors piling into gold-backed exchange traded funds.
Bolstering the price of bullion is the prospective a US government shutdown this week, which will see federal funding expire on Tuesday if no agreement on short-term funding is agreed. President Donald Trump is set to meet with lawmakers on Monday to attempt to break the deadlock.
