Gold shoots past record US$1,800 an ounce as investors pull money out of stocks.

China Daily
10 August 2011.

The price of gold surpassed US$1,800 an ounce Wednesday for the first time as investors pulled their money out of stocks and snapped up precious metals contracts.

December gold contracts backed off their highs, and ended the day at $1,784.30 an ounce, up $41.30, after reaching a record $1,801 an ounce earlier in the day on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold is fast becoming a favourite port in a storm of uncertainty.

Investors are clinging to what they see as a hedge against volatile stock and currency markets.

Gold prices have shot past a series of milestones over the past two years on an uninterrupted climb. 

Gold was trading at about $900 in the summer of 2008, before the financial crisis unfolded that year.

Resulting turmoil in currency and stock markets has burnished gold's lustre.