Are precious metals going up?

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Are precious metals going up?

NPR transcripts are created on an urgent deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. The authorized record of NPR programming is the audio record.

Gold

also receives demand from exchange-traded funds that own the metal and issue shares that investors can buy and sell.

While some ETFs represent ownership of the real metal, others hold shares in mining companies rather than real gold. In addition to investor sentiment, the trend in silver prices has been supported by its increasing use in industrial environments, which account for about half of the annual demand for the metal. It could also increase silver requirements for manufacturing photovoltaic (PV) panels, which are mainly imported from China, Heraeus precious metals analysts said in their May assessment. The metal has been trading around that price point for more than a week, and has recently continued to decline due to the strength of the US dollar, supported by the Federal Reserve's assertiveness in curbing inflation.

Buyers of physical precious metals should always make a reasonably quick delivery of their purchases so that unscrupulous traders don't take advantage of them. The prices of base metals such as copper rise and the prices of precious metals such as gold fall when the economy is doing well. This countercyclical relationship between inflation and gold is precisely why so many investors prefer to diversify their portfolio with precious metals. The dollar and the desire to keep gold as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation help boost the price of the precious metal.

Silver is, of course, the more exchangeable of the two precious metals, but it is often traded in conjunction with gold bars. As a result, this demand increases the prices of precious metals and helps investors hedge against inflation and the devaluation of the dollar. Persistent investor interest in gold and precious metals could drive up the price of gold, according to Nicky Shiels. The value of silver generally fluctuates more than gold due to the numerous industrial applications that link white metal to the fortunes of numerous industries.

Investors in precious metals and many other types of assets are understandably tired of the constant fluctuations of today's economy. Gold is also intrinsically valuable because metal is highly conductive, making it essential for countless industrial and electronic applications. The price of gold is generally inversely related to the value of the United States dollar because the metal is denominated in dollars.