Gold price surge continues, touches Rs 51,833/10 gm

With persistent concerns for the global economy, gold futures continued to climb new record levels on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) on Monday.

Earlier in the day, the August contract of gold on the MCX hit an all-time high of Rs 51,833 per 10 gram.

Currently, its trading at Rs 51,778.00, higher by Rs 743.00 or 1.46 per cent from its previous close.

The steady demand for the yellow metal continues as other asset classes including equities and properties are not doing well amid the economic slowdown.

Further, the highly unpredictable economic situation makes investors move towards the safe haven asset.

A recent report by the World Gold Council (WGC) said that with investors looking at safer assets amid the COVID-19 pandemic, investment in gold is likely to make up for the fall in consumption demand for the precious metal.

The report titled 'Gold Mid-Year Outlook 2020' noted that in the current global economic environment, three factors are supportive of investment demand for gold -- high risk and uncertainty, low opportunity cost and positive price momentum.

"Additionally, we expect investors to turn to gold as a means of hedging as we have seen in the first half of this year," it said.

Futures contracts of silver on the MCX also soared on Monday. The September contract of silver jumped by over Rs 3,500.

Currently, the contract is trading at Rs 64,740 per kilogram, higher by Rs 3,517 or 5.74 per cent from the previous close.