FX.co ★ Gold ends year at highs

Those who invested in gold made the right decision. In particular, Russia was lucky and wise enough to increase its volume of gold reserves. On the back of limited access to the global market due to sanctions, the country has been trying hard to find alternative ways of reducing financial risks. Some of its measures proved to be ineffective. Thus, Russia failed to ditch the US dollars and incurred hefty losses after buying a large amount of the Chinese currency. However, its idea of buying gold turned out to be much more successful. The precious metal has been rapidly rising recently, and it seems that the upward trend will continue. The price per troy ounce has broken the level of 1,500 USD, and most analysts are predicting that the price will grow further. A temporary lull in the precious metals market is likely to be followed by another rally. Interestingly, the dynamics of gold and other precious metals have been connected with the US dollar exchange rate until recently. Having analyzed long-term trends, most experts have concluded that the American currency has a minor impact on gold prices. Last year, the US dollar little changed while the precious metals hit records highs. The quotes were rising despite an increase in the appetite for risk and interventions by the central banks.