Gold jumps after Swiss franc float

Gold prices rose 250 baht per baht weight at its opening on Saturday.

The Gold Traders Association announced the buying price at 19600 baht and the selling price at 19,700 baht per baht-weight for gold bars.

The buying price for gold ornaments was 19,313.84 while their selling price was 20,100 baht per baht-weight.

The prices were adjusted twice on Friday for a total gain of 300 baht from the previous close on Thursday. 

In world markets, Bloomberg reported from New York holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded product backed by the metal, surged the most in more than four years.

Assets in the SPDR fund, which counts billionaire John Paulson as its biggest holder, jumped 1.9% to 730.89 tonnes on Friday. That’s the biggest gain since May 25, 2010. This week, the holdings climbed 3.3%.

Gold futures capped the biggest weekly gain in 18 months as volatility in European currency markets spurred demand for the metal as a haven. Prices climbed following the Swiss central bank’s surprise move to abandon the franc’s cap against the euro.

“People are aggressively going back to gold,” Phil Streible, a senior commodity broker at R.J. O’Brien & Associates in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “With all the currency turmoil in Europe and worries about the euro declining further, many investors are moving into the world’s oldest currency.”

Gold climbed to a four-month high on Friday, while call options for the right to own February futures at $1,300 an ounce soared sevenfold in two days. Signs of cooling expansion in Europe boosted speculation that policy makers will add to stimulus, increasing demand for a store of value. Muted inflation and stagnant foreign economies may prompt the Federal Reserve to delay an increases in interest rates.

In New York, gold futures for February delivery rose 1% to settle at $1,276.90 an ounce at 1.38pm on the Comex. Earlier, the price reached $1,282.40, the highest for a most-active contract since Sept 2. This week, the metal jumped 5%, the most since July 12, 2013.