The surging gold price clearly shows the panic sweeping financial markets, according to Adrian Ash, head of Research at BullionVault.com
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Gold rose to its highest level in two years on Friday morning as it became clear that the UK had voted to leave the EU.
The price of gold jumped as much as 8.1 per cent to $1.358.54 an ounce, its highest since March 2014, as investors sought to put their money in so-called safe have asset.
Google reported that the number of online searches for the words “buy gold” climbed by 500 per cent in the past four hours as the results pointed to a victory for the Leave campaign.
The surging gold price clearly shows the panic sweeping financial markets, according to Adrian Ash, head of Research at BullionVault.com
“This is just the kind of crisis which gold helps savers and investors insure against. Gold offers certainty and security as stock markets and currencies sink, just as it did during the 2008 meltdown,” Ash said,
The difference is that this shock was clearly signposted, and many private investors didn't wait for today's result to get prepared,” he added.
Transactions have jumped by 32 per cent since the start of June on the Royal Mint’s online trading platform, compared to last month. Revenues have increased nearly 150 per cent in the same period.
Speaking prior to the EU referendum, Chris Howard, director of the bullion at Royal Mint, said: “Whilst we are uncertain at this stage on what the impact the results of both the European Referendum vote and the US elections will have on the gold market, we have ensured that with the Royal Mint’s trading platform and our significant gold holding, we are prepared for possible market turbulence.”
In a closely fought campaign, the UK has voted to leave the European Union after 43 years, plunging the country into uncharted political and economic territory.
A woman in a wheelchair with British and European Union flags shows her support for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union on the day of the EU Referendum in Gibraltar
Getty Images
2/18
A polling station being used in the EU referendum at Batley Town Hall in the constituency Labour MP Jo Cox
PA
3/18
People arrive to vote in the EU Referendum at the Library where British MP Jo Cox was shot and fatally wounded last week in Birstall
EPA
4/18
A man arrives to vote at a polling station for the Referendum on the European Union in north London
REUTERS
5/18
Voters queue to enter a polling station at Trinity Church in Golders Green in London
Getty Images
6/18
British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha Cameron leave after voting in the EU Referendum at Central Methodist Hall, Westminster
Getty Images
7/18
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn cast his vote at a polling station at Pakeman Primary School in Islington
Getty Images
8/18
Chelsea pensioners arrive at a polling station near to the Royal Chelsea Hospital
PA
9/18
A woman wearing an "I'm In" t-shirt, promoting the official "Remain" campaign, leaves a polling station in London
AFP/Getty Images
10/18
People queuing outside a polling station on Amott Road in London
PA
11/18
Scotland's First Minister and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell, react as leave after casting their votes at a polling station at Broomhouse Community Hall in east Glasgow
AFP/Getty Images
12/18
A man wearing a European themed cycling jersey leaves after voting at a polling station for the Referendum on the European Union in north London
REUTERS
13/18
Ukip leader Nigel Farage arrives to cast his vote at Cudham Church of England Primary School in Biggin Hill, Kent
PA
14/18
Justice Secretary and prominent 'Vote Leave' campaigner Michael Gove poses with his wife Sarah Vine after voting in the European Union referendum at their local polling station in Kensington
Getty Images
15/18
Nuns leave a polling station after voting in the EU Referendum in London
EPA
16/18
People arrive to cast their ballots in the EU Referendum in Gibraltar. The United Kingdom and its dependant territories are going to the polls to decide whether or not the the United Kingdom will remain in the European Union
Getty Images
17/18
A man driving a van covered in stickers urging people to vote for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union drives outside a polling station on the day of the EU Referendum in Gibraltar
Getty Images
18/18
A sign on a gable wall in Belfast's, Loyalist Tigers Bay urging voters to leave the EU using scripture from Revelation 18:4, as voters head to the polls across the UK in a historic referendum on whether the UK should remain a member of the European Union or leave
PA
1/18
A woman in a wheelchair with British and European Union flags shows her support for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union on the day of the EU Referendum in Gibraltar
Getty Images
2/18
A polling station being used in the EU referendum at Batley Town Hall in the constituency Labour MP Jo Cox
PA
3/18
People arrive to vote in the EU Referendum at the Library where British MP Jo Cox was shot and fatally wounded last week in Birstall
EPA
4/18
A man arrives to vote at a polling station for the Referendum on the European Union in north London
REUTERS
5/18
Voters queue to enter a polling station at Trinity Church in Golders Green in London
Getty Images
6/18
British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha Cameron leave after voting in the EU Referendum at Central Methodist Hall, Westminster
Getty Images
7/18
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn cast his vote at a polling station at Pakeman Primary School in Islington
Getty Images
8/18
Chelsea pensioners arrive at a polling station near to the Royal Chelsea Hospital
PA
9/18
A woman wearing an "I'm In" t-shirt, promoting the official "Remain" campaign, leaves a polling station in London
AFP/Getty Images
10/18
People queuing outside a polling station on Amott Road in London
PA
11/18
Scotland's First Minister and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell, react as leave after casting their votes at a polling station at Broomhouse Community Hall in east Glasgow
AFP/Getty Images
12/18
A man wearing a European themed cycling jersey leaves after voting at a polling station for the Referendum on the European Union in north London
REUTERS
13/18
Ukip leader Nigel Farage arrives to cast his vote at Cudham Church of England Primary School in Biggin Hill, Kent
PA
14/18
Justice Secretary and prominent 'Vote Leave' campaigner Michael Gove poses with his wife Sarah Vine after voting in the European Union referendum at their local polling station in Kensington
Getty Images
15/18
Nuns leave a polling station after voting in the EU Referendum in London
EPA
16/18
People arrive to cast their ballots in the EU Referendum in Gibraltar. The United Kingdom and its dependant territories are going to the polls to decide whether or not the the United Kingdom will remain in the European Union
Getty Images
17/18
A man driving a van covered in stickers urging people to vote for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union drives outside a polling station on the day of the EU Referendum in Gibraltar
Getty Images
18/18
A sign on a gable wall in Belfast's, Loyalist Tigers Bay urging voters to leave the EU using scripture from Revelation 18:4, as voters head to the polls across the UK in a historic referendum on whether the UK should remain a member of the European Union or leave
PA
Demand for gold has spiked by a 21 per cent from January to March this year, the equivalent of 1,290 tonnes, its fastest pace ever in 2016 according to the World Gold Council (WGC).
Concerns about the shifting global economic and uncertain financial landscape have created a positive environment as gold became a “safe haven” for investors, the WCG said.
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