Gold continues to rally above $2,000

Gold prices consolidated gains and exceeded $2,000 today, April 18, with increased demand for safe havens amid geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, high global inflation and the possibility of a recession in the US this year.

In a note, Goldman Sachs said that history suggests that the US Federal Reserve will face a difficult task in tightening policy to cool inflation without causing a US recession, putting the odds of a contraction at about 35% over the next two years.

Gold futures contracts for June delivery surged by 1.29% to reach $2,000.6 per ounce at 03.55 pm Makkah time. Spot gold also rose marginally by 0.87% to $195.40 an ounce.

Elsewhere, silver futures for July delivery went up 2.52% to reach $26.44 per ounce.

Spot price for platinum delivery increased by 2.23% to $1,015.07 an ounce, while palladium gained 1.02% to reach $2,397.04 per ounce.

The main dollar index, which measures the performance of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, settled at 100.588 points.