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Gold prices surpassed $4,000 for the first time on Wednesday, driven by investor demand for the safe-haven asset amid expectations of US interest rate cuts and concerns surrounding a US government shutdown. The rally also follows worries that a technology-driven surge in equity markets may have created an asset bubble. Gold has seen robust demand throughout the year, rising more than 50 percent, fueled by factors including global economic uncertainty, trade tensions, and geopolitical crises and Donald Trump's trade war and geopolitical crises.
Its allure was increased further this week by political turmoil in France, where the country's prime minister resigned and President Emmanuel Macron's former premier urged him to resign and call early elections.
Gold -- long considered a go-to in times of uncertainty -- climbed to a high of $4,006.68 Wednesday, even as the dollar has pushed up against most of its peers in recent days. Silver was also within a few dollars of its own record high.
The closure of parts of the US government is adding to the sense of unease among investors, with key economic data, including on jobs, being postponed and muddying the waters for the Federal Reserve as it tries to decide on its rate plans.
While gold traders were busy pushing the metal ever higher, equity markets were more subdued in Asia as questions were asked about the hundreds of billions of dollars that have been invested in artificial intelligence. The AI boom has seen some indexes and companies hit record highs, with chip titan Nvidia topping a $4 trillion valuation.
But a report that software firm Oracle's cloud computing profit margin was much lower than expected sent shivers through trading floors, with all three main indexes on Wall Street falling into the red.
Tech firms, which have enjoyed strong buying this year and in recent months, led selling in Asia. Hong Kong and Taipei were among the biggest losers, while Sydney and Singapore also fell. Tokyo was marginally higher, helped by lingering optimism that the election of business-friendly conservative Sanae Takaichi as the ruling party's leader will see more stimulus measures and a fresh push for monetary easing.
