gold price broke out to a new all-time high above $1,600 per ounce

The gold price broke out to a new all-time high above $1,600 per ounce Monday morning, rising for the eleventh consecutive trading session. The price of gold advanced as high as $1,603.40 per ounce before backing off to trade just the $1,600 level. The yellow metal gained on the back of a surge in borrowing costs for Italy, the latest European nation to see its bond market come under heavy selling pressure. The lack of a deal to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling also helped boost gold prices.

The eleven-day rise in the gold price is the longest winning streak since January of 1980. The gold price delivered another noteworthy performance last week, climbing 3.2% on its way to a series of fresh record highs. With Monday’s advance, the gold price extended its monthly and year-to-date gains to 6.6% and 12.5%, respectively.

Commenting on the breakout above $1,600 per ounce, TD’s Global Precious Metals team highlighted “the inflation adjusted all-time high in gold, going back to 1980 is $2,479.30 per ounce.” However, they did caution that “The yellow metal remains very well bid and it does feel like it’s on everyone’s radar at the moment – just have a look at the CFTC figures which show gold longs increasing by some 5 million ounces last week – the largest weekly increase since September 2009 and now within 4.4 million ounces of the record net long position.”