The price of gold has risen steadily in the first months of 2024.
It has News24 already reported on earlier.
SEK 800,000 per kilo – a record
When the war in Ukraine broke out, many discussed whether the kilo price in Swedish kronor could rise above 700,000 kroner for the first time. In April 2024, the average price is above SEK 800,000 for the first time.
This is evident from Nordic Gold Trade’s graph for the gold price.
Troy ounces
Few things made of gold weigh a whole kilo. A ring or an earring does not weigh more than a few grams, for example.
Therefore, it may be unnecessary to think in terms of price per kilo as a private person.
Internationally, the global unit of weight is troy ounces, approximately 31 grams.
Now a troy ounce of gold costs $2,330. That’s an increase of a whopping 12 percent in just one month, and the highest ever. For comparison, the S&P500, the US large-cap index, has only increased by 1.64 percent during the same period.
This means that someone who put in a thousand in the stock market and the same amount in gold, would have received a modest 16.40 kroner on average on the stock market, but almost tenfold, 120 kroner, for their investment in gold.
Is gold better than the stock market?
If you compare it with the Swedish major company index, the value of gold has gone up more than the stock market every month in the past year. In one year, the gold price has risen by 9.6 percent while the OMX30 has risen by 6.91 percent during the same period, according to Nordic Goldtrades graph.
But there are many differences between shares and gold investments. Very few invest only in gold.
The stock market generally always rises in value over enough time, while gold can fall rapidly in price for periods and rise just as rapidly.
Gold and other precious metals are subject to heavy speculation.
No dividend
In addition, gold and other commodities are not dividend-paying assets, such as stocks. This means that shares always create new value for their owners, while gold is only worth more when and if it is sold to a new owner.
But right now there is a gold fever, writes Swedish daily newspaper.
China buys gold
The reason is, among other things, that the communist dictatorship China has bought enormous amounts of gold.
Even China’s population buys gold and 12 percent of the population have gold as their main form of savings.
And the dictatorship is not alone in making the assessment that the precious metal can be a wise investment.
Lower interest rates – then the price of gold can rise
The expectation of lower interest rates means that commodities can be a wise investment for part of the savings portfolio. At the same time, several conflicts are ongoing in the Middle East, which make oil and other raw materials unsafe investments.
This could lead to gold gaining even more speculators.
If inflation rises again
Over time, the price of gold has increased and therefore gold may well be a wise investment to spread risk in your savings. In addition, gold is a good investment should inflation rise again.
Torbjörn Iwarson is a commodity expert and was interviewed by Svenska Dagbladet about what could be behind the gold rush:
– The geopolitical concern can be read as states needing to buy more weapons in the armament that prevails in the world and finance the purchases with taxes. If people do not believe that the government will recoup the cost by raising taxes afterwards but instead increase the budget deficit, then inflation will occur. And if there is inflation, it is good to have gold, he says.
War and the arms race – gold is a canary
The increased risk in the world of war, and the arms race in country after country investing in weapons, can lead to planned inflation, in other words. And then it may well be wise to have a nugget in the portfolio.
– People think there will be inflation. That is the explanation for why the price of gold is rising. Gold is like a canary in the gold mine that says there will be inflation.
Should you sell your jewelry?
Jewelry has more than just material value. Therefore, you should think twice before getting rid of your jewels.
But in addition, there is reason to believe that your gold in the chest of drawers may be worth more in the coming months. Therefore, it may be wise not to sell yet unless you need the money for something else.
Instead, it may well be time to buy gold or securities gold, to spread the risks in your savings.
How do you save in gold?
If you want to invest in gold yourself, there are many different methods – such as buying securities that correspond to gold, or buying shares of gold at a gold bank.
But you can also take the opportunity to sell gold you already have now that the price is high, and there are many buyers.
Troy ounce – why then?
Internationally, the unit of weight troy ounce, or troy ounce, is used to weigh raw materials such as gold.
A troy ounce is the same as 31.1034768 grams, and is different from what is commonly called an ounce.
An ounce is one-sixteenth of a British pound, while there are only twelve troy ounces in a British pound, according to the website The commodity market.
Read more about gold:
The expert: The gold price on its way to record levels – time to bargain?
Unusual coup at the airport – thieves stole gold worth 150 million
The Expensive Mistake You Must Avoid With Your Jewelry This Summer: “Ruined”