It was a busy news weekend… Controversy continues swirling from the Trump impeachment hearings as NBA superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and several of their high-profile friends in the sports arena were killed in a helicopter crash in Southern California. Then there is coronavirus, a deadly viral infection that is spreading throughout China and also turning up in many other nations, including the United States. And this news is making investors jittery.
Stocks plunged by as much as 500 points yesterday, January 27, on the heels that more cases of coronavirus were confirmed in China and elsewhere. If China begins shutting down factories and businesses to help prevent the further spread of the disease, this will surely have an impact on commerce — including that of the United States, which in recent years has been increasingly tied to the ups and downs of China’s economy.
What does this mean for gold prices? The gold market did see some life today. As the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged on Monday, gold prices soared from $1,576 before the United States stock market opened for trading to $1,586 as stocks took their worst beating of the day. Does this mean that the spread of the coronavirus could, in a backhanded way, have positive impacts on the bullion market? The coming days will tell us much…
