Gold hits another record high

Gold reached a record high of $1 235.50 an ounce in Honk Kong on Wednesday as investors continue to look for a safe haven while everyone's concerns over the eurozone debt crisis continues to escalate.

When the markets closed in Asia, the precious metal was trading at $1 209.00 an ounce but later went as high as $1 224.82 an ounce on the European market.

Analysts reckon gold will remain as a safe haven while other markets continue fluctuate and remain vulnerable.

It opened at $1 229.00, just up from a previous record of $1 226.56 for the metal set on December 3 last year.

"The response of the central banks and the IMF to the southern European mess is almost guaranteed to ensure continued volatility in world markets," said Capital Spreads analyst Simon Denham.

Gold's main drivers are jewellery and people looking to invest in gold and the precious metal hit record highs last year following inflationary fears and moves by central banks to diversify assets away from the dollar.

Escalating concerns about the situation in Greece have also added to people investing in gold.

"This resilient performance... is perhaps telling of the scepticism markets still have over the execution of the plans and the tough fiscal challenges that will face some euro area economies," added Barclays Capital analyst Yingxi Yu.
"While markets remain jittery over the effectiveness of the plans, gold is likely to perform relatively well."