Gold Blues as Silver Woos
February was a tough month for gold, which marked its worst monthly performance since November 2016. Spot gold fell $114/oz, or 6.15%, to close the month at $1,734/oz. Half of this decline came in the two final days of February, as bond selling spiked into near panic mode and triggered a multi-asset sell-off into month-end. Figure 1 shows how gold has been inversely correlated to bond yields.
February’s pullback occurred on the back of various developments. Rising energy prices and the markets’ view on U.S. government spending bolstered the reflation trade with a rally in broader equity markets. The U.S. dollar strengthened as markets priced in a swift economic recovery and as U.S. Treasury yields advanced to the highest level in a year, with the 30-year bond rising above 2% and the rapid move in the 10-year to over 1.5%, which we will discuss in more detail. Meanwhile, gold ETFs saw holdings decline towards the end of February. Silver prices held up m
By Maria Smirnova, Senior Portfolio Manager, Sprott Asset Management
We live in unprecedented times. As the world’s population grows and industrialization takes hold in more corners of the world, climate change is accelerating, and, in response, humanity’s concern for our planet’s health is growing. The teenage activist Greta Thunberg put it best: “I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is.” [1]
As clean energy initiatives gain traction, greater attention is being paid to the critical roles of various metals and minerals. Access to these valuable materials has become critically important, which is why several resource-rich nations, including Canada and Australia, have joined the United States in establishing the Energy Resource Governance Initiative (ERGI), an alliance to disseminate best practices for discovering and developing reserves of minerals used to make electric vehicles.[2]