Gold Price in US Dollars data by YCharts
What moved the price of gold in 2014?
Despite the modest 2% decline in gold prices for the year, 2014 has actually been a topsy-turvy time for the price of gold. At the beginning of the year, gold prices soared, rising from around $1,200 per ounce to almost $1,400 as investors looked for ways to protect themselves from rising geopolitical tensions. In particular, the crisis in Ukraine which led to the annexation of Crimea in March heightened the potential for conflict between Russia and the West, and the threat of economic sanctions had many investors looking to gold and its traditional safe-haven status for shelter from possible turbulence in the stock market and other investments. Later in the year, new trouble in Iraq and continuing conflict in Gaza also added to the list of reasons gold investors used to justify price gains.
Gold Price in Japanese Yen data by YCharts
By contrast, the U.S. economy has been making solid gains, and that has driven foreign-exchange traders to prefer the dollar over less promising currencies. That in turn puts pressure on the price of gold in dollar terms, even though gold actually scored gains when you value it in yen, euro, or most other currencies around the world.
Yet the lack of a rebound in the price of gold in 2014 has made many investors reluctant to own the metal, and that in turn has weakened overall demand for bullion. The popular gold ETF SPDR Gold Shares kept seeing declines in investor interest, with its total reserves falling another 10% in 2014 to just 23.2 million ounces. Even though that puts the total asset value of the ETF at $27.7 billion, that's down from the whopping $77.5 billion in holdings that bullish investors had in the ETF just three years ago.
What's ahead for gold?
Looking to 2015, the tug of war for gold prices could persist as economic and geopolitical factors continue to pull gold back and forth. With many analysts expecting the Fed to start moving forward with rate increases as early as the middle of 2015, even relative bargains in thegold marketrecently might not be enough to entice new investors into thegold market Until investment demand picks up, it'll be tough for the price of gold to recover from its stagnant 2014.
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The article Price of Gold in 2014: Why It's Gone Nowhere originally appeared on Fool.com.
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