“The main advantage of gold is that it’s not the responsibility of others,” said Nikos Kavalis, managing director of Metal Focus.
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Singapore – Gold has won the haven crown. Spot prices have risen 30% so far, with gold bars benefiting outweighing other traditional safe havens such as the yen, yen, Swiss francs and U.S. Treasury bonds, which convincing investors can reconsider the true security of facing financial sustainability issues and imminent wars.
The core of Gold’s appeal is its exemption from government liability, market experts gathered at the Asia-Pacific Precious Metals Conference on Monday told CNBC on Monday.
“The main advantage of gold is that it’s not the responsibility of others,” said Nikos Kavalis, managing director of Metal Focus. “When investors have Treasury bonds, other sovereign bonds and even currencies, they end up buying their respective economies.”
Since the beginning of the year, it is time to take stock of other typical safe haven performance: The dollar index, which measures the value of green to a basket of currencies, has weakened nearly 10% of currencies so far. During the same period, safe haven currencies such as the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc strengthened by about 8% and 10% against the US dollar respectively.
So far, the yield on U.S. government bonds for the benchmark 10-year period has dropped by 19 basis points to about 19 basis points. The yield and price are inversely proportional in the bond market, which means lower yields are equal to the price.
Year and date gold price
By contrast, gold prices have gradually been sending fresh highs for months. Gold has grown at about 30% so far, and is currently trading at $3,403.09 after reaching a peak of more than $3,500 in April. The demand for gold is driven by a climate of instability and uncertainty, especially in the recent developments in the Middle East, which are demand for a safe haven in the United States.
“The growing feeling is just uncertain about the future of the dollar and the U.S. fiscal market. I think this has sparked greater interest in alternative safe havens like gold,” said Shaokai fans of the World Gold Council Global Central Bank.
Although the dollar and U.S. Treasury have historically been a bastion of financial security, cracks have begun to show.
The U.S. Treasury Department faces Steep sale in April After President Donald Trump’s “reciprocity” tariffs. Subsequently withdraw from U.S. long-term debt in May It was the key to Treasury’s long-standing reputation as a safe haven after Moody downgraded U.S. credit rating and Trump’s tax bill, as investors’ concerns about fiscal discipline have increased, and our 30-year yield is key to over 5%.
Demand for U.S. debt instruments have recovered slightly since then. But the turbulent policy making in the world’s largest economy has hurt U.S. assets confidence.
Why Gold Stands Out
“Gold as an asset is not affected by the high debt-to-GDP ratios that affect other currencies,” said Nicholas Frappel, head of global institutional markets at ABC Refinery.
U.S. bonds and dollars aren’t the only ones that have masked the reputation of safe havens. The Ministry of Finance crash in May was also accompanied by sell-offs in other major markets, with investors bailing from Japanese government bonds.
“Japan also has ongoing structural problems,” said World Gold Council fans, who elaborated on the weak yen due to some of the differences in interest rates.
Japan’s government bond yields have risen by 39 basis points in 10 years since the beginning of 2025, indicating a decline in demand. The yen appreciates 8% of the dollar against the dollar during the same period.
The reason why gold stands out in other ways is that it is a large liquid market and that it is apolitical.
Shaokai Fan
World Gold Council
Fan said that because Japanese banks did not raise interest rates like other central banks, investors entering the yen was a “suppression” due to interest rate differences.
Japan Central Bank Keep its policy rate stable at 0.5% At its second meeting in May, concerns over Trump’s tariffs shrouded the country’s economic outlook. It also held The benchmark rate was 0.5% at Tuesday’s June meeting Facing an increase in growth risks.
The Swiss Franc is another traditional haven currency since the beginning of this year, with a boost to Greenback by more than 10%.
However, the Swiss National Bank Possibly attempting to stop the haven flowThis makes the Swiss franc less competitive, Van said.
Back in March, Swiss National Bank Set its policy interest rate at 0.25%. Swiss consumer prices fell for the first time in May in four years, which led to some forecasts of negative interest rates in the upcoming policy meeting.
“The Swiss franc is still very sexy, but the problem is (if) Switzerland is now negative, if I buy the franc, I won’t get a lot of rewards.”
Industry experts told CNBC that gold stands out with other safe haven assets issued by government owners and associated with government owners.
“Why gold stands out in other ways, it’s a large liquid market, and it’s apolitical,” Fan said. “All other assets are issued by government owners. It’s not fiat currency. The supply of gold is limited by natural restrictions, and I think that’s what makes it a safe haven asset. It has nothing to do with any particular political risk.”
Unlike sovereign bonds or fiat currencies, gold has no rival risk. “Gold has intrinsic value. This means I don’t have to rely on government or private agents to execute my debt obligations to pay for coupons,” the strategist said.
Massive purchases by central banks around the world have also increased the attractiveness of their safe havens, Melek added. In 2024, the central bank added 1,044.6 tons of gold to its reserves, marking the Third consecutive year Purchased has exceeded 1,000 tons mark.
The European Central Bank also recently reported that gold surpassed the euro to become the second largest reserve, accounting for 20% of global reserves by the end of 2024.
