The Donald J. Trump era is marking a new age for gold as an investor safe haven.
While the precious metal has always been hoarded in times of trouble, a bevy of political and economic surprises in 2016 sparked a surge in buying that sent bullion to the first annual gain in four years. Prices may rally 13 percent in 2017, almost double this year's advance, according to a Bloomberg survey of 26 analysts.
Fueling the bullish outlook is the risk of chaos on multiple fronts: a possible trade war from America's fraying relationship with China, the alleged Russian hack of U.S. political parties, the U.K.'s complicated exit from the European Union, and elections slated in France, Germany, and the Netherlands that may see a rise of nationalist groups. And then there are Trump's frequent Twitter posts, in which the U.S. president-elect feuded with rivals and made declarations that unsettled allies even before he takes office Jan. 20.
"One hundred forty characters of unfiltered Trump are likely to create tensions with America's largest trading partners," Mark O'Byrne, a director at broker GoldCore Ltd. in Dublin, said by e-mail. "Markets that are already shaken by the fallout from Brexit, the coming elections in Europe, and indeed the increasing specter of cyber warfare could again see a safe-haven bid." ...
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