The gold price jumped to fresh near 7-year highs on Monday as worries about the spread of the coronavirus spurred investors to seek safe haven assets and global stock markets plummeted.
February gold futures, the most active contract with nearly 40m ounces traded on the day, was set to close above $1,580 an ounce on the Comex market in New York.
It would be the highest closing price since 9 April 2013 although on an intra-day basis gold briefly traded above $1,600 an ounce a fortnight ago when investors also sought out less risky investments following the killing of an Iranian general in a US drone strike.
Bloomberg reports as concerns about the impact of coronavirus mount, holdings in exchange-traded funds backed by physical gold climbed to within 25 tonnes of the record set in November.
Gold ETFs and similar products had $19.2 billion or 400 tonnes of net inflows in 2019 after holdings rebounded in December, according to World Gold Council data. In the fourth quarter, ETF holdings reached an all-time high of 2,900 tonnes.
The new strain of the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan in central China, has infected almost 3,000 people and killed 82, prompting Beijing to extend new year holidays by two days to February 2nd.