Gold Stumbles as a Safe Haven in Worst Week Since 2016

(Bloomberg) -- As financial markets around the world cratered this week, gold wasn’t much of a safe haven.

While prices briefly flirted with $1,700 an ounce on Monday, selling pressure from every corner of the market spread to bullion too. In the rush to raise cash, investors pulled money out of gold and the stronger dollar made the metal less appealing.

“Gold found itself on the chopping block,” said Ilya Spivak, a strategist at DailyFX.

Prices have fallen 4.8% this week, the biggest decline since 2016. On Friday, they added 1.1% to $1,594.02 an ounce as of 12:55 p.m. in London.

Still, despite this week’s sell-off, the mood in the gold market is strongly bullish. Almost everyone is expecting prices will slowly climb higher if the coronavirus causes a recession in the global economy.

“Gold looks a pretty good bet over the medium term,” Daniel Hynes, senior commodity strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “You could even call a 10% to 15% rally a fairly good possibility in the shorter term.”

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