Gold rose above $1,500 an ounce and exchange traded funds (ETFs) tracking the metal was set for a higher open Thursday as the dollar continued to weaken.
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) was up 0.3% in premarket trade Thursday.
“On the basis of everything that is going wrong — a possible downgrade in the United States, the situation in Libya not getting any better, the general feeling about the global economic situation — I think gold is going to go higher,” ANZ Bank analyst Peter Hillyard told Reuters. “Gold isn’t finished yet by a long shot.”
Concerns over Europe’s debt situation and inflation have also fueled precious metal’s rise, analysts say.
“Given the gains in recent sessions… there is the risk of deeper corrections across the metals on long liquidation due to the long Easter weekend,” James Moore at FastMarkets said. “But we still expect dips to be viewed as buying opportunities, with gold and silver viewed favorably by investors seeking to hedge against inflation and debt jitters.”