
03 January 2019 – The Dow Jones Index in December broke through 22,000 points and fell to the lowest value in the last 16 months. Due to this “black December”, many equity funds resulted in a loss for the whole year 2018, see the equity fund of the Czech bank J&T Opportunity CZK with the loss of 5.81%.
At the end of December, investment of American pension funds, which had to buy stock to fulfil regulatory requirements on the balance of stocks and bonds in their portfolio, helped shares. The pension fund of the American bank Wells Fargo made a purchase in the volume of 64 billion USD in one day. It helped the shares and the Dow Jones Index exceeded the limit of 23,000 points. However, even such an investment could not get the “stock party” from last years started.
Gold – it has strengthened by almost 5% during the month. Many analysts predict that it had broken so called “bearish trend”, and as a result of its sharp strengthening in December, it entered into a growth phase. This is evidenced by increasing positions of investment funds which trade in securities the prices of which depend on the price of gold. The boundary of USD 1,250 per ounce was quickly overcome and the price approached USD 1,300 per ounce, which is another important psychological barrier which will pave the path for further growth.
Silver – it copied the development of gold. Its strengthening amounted to more than 8% and it exceeded the border of USD 15.50 per ounce. For 2019, we expect its strengthening which will not be so fast in the case of economic crisis because silver will be under the pressure of low demand from industry.
Platinum – the only precious metal which kept its downward trend even in December. The price of platinum is under the value of USD 800 per ounce now. It is caused by long-term low demand from car industry and weakening demand for platinum jewellery, mainly in Asia.
Palladium – it strengthened by 8% during December and its price is comparable to gold – it is traded below the amount of USD 1,300 per ounce. It is benefiting from rising demand from the automotive industry.
Libor Křapka
Chief Executive Officer of IBIS InGold®, a. s.