The price of gold futures surged above US$2,100 per ounce while the price of Bitcoin passed $40,000 on Monday morning in response to growing expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) has finished with its US interest rate hike and will begin a rate cut next year.
Gold contracts on the Comex (Commodity Exchange) market, due for delivery in February next year, rose $16.70 or 0.80% on Monday morning to $2,106.40 per ounce.
According to local gold trader Hua Seng Heng, gold prices rose sharply on Friday and surged around $70 last week after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signalled that the US central bank may have stopped hiking interest rates.
The statement caused the dollar to depreciate and US bond yields fell, supporting gold prices.
Factors to follow this week are US employment figures, including private sector employment nationwide in November and non-agricultural employment in the same month.
Hua Seng Heng expects gold prices to remain on an upward trend after breaking a key resistance level of $2,050 on Nov 3. The next resistance is at 2,100, which would be an all-time high.
Klein Rodda, an analyst at Capital.com, said speculation about the Fed's interest rate policy has not only driven gold prices but also the price of Bitcoin which rose strongly on Monday morning.
Investors will keep an eye on US non-agricultural employment numbers due to be released on Friday to find a clear direction regarding the Fed's rate policy.
While analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal indicated that non-agricultural employment in the US is expected to reach 190,000 jobs last month, higher than the increase of 150,000 jobs recorded in October.
The unemployment rate is expected to remain stable in November at 3.9%.
Analysts have also said the possibility of a US interest rate cut is a factor supporting gold prices to continue to increase until next year.
Looking ahead to next year, risks include geopolitics, elections in leading countries and the possibility of major economies falling into recession. Those risks are fuelling an appetite for investment in gold, which is a safe-haven asset, they said.