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The gold price breached US$1,360/oz for a second time in 2016, as investors are starting to lose confidence in the effectiveness of unconventional monetary policies.

The gold price staged a spectacular rally in the first quarter of this year, rising by 17% in US dollar terms. This was its best performance in almost three decades, significantly outperforming other major stock, bond and commodity indices.

We have entered a new and unprecedented phase in monetary policy. Central banks in Europe and Japan have now implemented Negative Interest Rate Policies (NIRP) to counteract deflationary pressures and, in some cases, currency appreciation.

April 2013 witnessed a significant drop in gold prices, from US$ 1,535.5/oz on Friday 12 to intraday lows of US$ 1,320/oz on Tuesday 16th before stabilising around US$ 1,390/oz.