Gold prices hit lowest level since EU referendum
Gold prices have dipped to their lowest level since the referendum in a big morning of movers-and-shakers on the global money markets.
An ounce of the yellow stuff on the spot exchange markets will set you back $1,292 this morning, down 1.5 per cent from yesterday's close. That is the lowest price for gold since the UK shocked financial markets by voting to leave the European Union.
The stumble comes as the pound sets a new 31-year low against the dollar after sliding into the $1.27 range following comments from Theresa May that she will trigger Article 50 by the end of March. The extra lurch downwards follows reports that she will not seek even a transitional arrangement where the UK remains in the Single Market or the European Economic Area.
Gold is still up by $240 an ounce since the beginning of the year, after surging higher throughout the first six months of the year amid various bouts of uncertainty.
Today's slip in the headline dollar price of gold corresponds with a mini-rally in the greenback. The US currency also jumped against the euro, which could have been knocked by May's comments, and it even climbed against the Japanese yen, typically seen as a safe haven currency.
Read more: 12 charts showing the financial market fallout of the Brexit vote
Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com said the precious metal could slide further in the coming weeks.
"Gold does appear to be on a shaky footing, at least from a technical point of view anyway. The metal has now spent the best part of three months beneath its bearish trend line," he said.
The weak pound also sent the benchmark FTSE 100 index above 7,000 points for the first time since June 2015 and the FTSE 250 to a new all-time record high of 18,409.