Gold surges to new record, blows past $2,000 per ounce

• The precious metals rally gathered pace overnight as spot gold (XAUUSD:CUR) rose as much as 0.6% to a record $2,031.14 per ounce, while futures traded as high as $2,048.60 on the Comex. Spot silver (XAGUSD:CUR) advanced as much as 1.3% to $26.3473 an ounce.
• The printers are running... Investors are counting on even more spending in the U.S. to combat the pandemic's fallout as White House negotiators work "around the clock" to reach a stimulus deal by the end of the week.
• Markets also latched on to comments from San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly that the U.S. economy will need more support than initially thought, weighing on the dollar and sending long-term Treasury yields into a downward spiral.
• "People want safety, and safety right now is gold because Treasuries are not yielding up," added Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.
• Putting it in perspective: The holdings of SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEARCA:GLD), an ETF that owns physical bullion rather than derivatives, has climbed to 1,258 tons (after adding another 15 tons on Monday and Tuesday). That's more than a quarter of all the gold held at Fort Knox, and more than the gold reserves of the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England or the Reserve Bank of India.
• Bullion is already up more than 30% this year and many see continued gains. Goldman Sachs says gold may climb to $2,300/oz. as investors are "in search of a new reserve currency," while RBC Capital puts the odds of a rally to $3,000/oz. at 40%.
• Gold ETFs: IAU, PHYS, SGOL, UGLDF, BAR, UGL, AAAU, GLDM, GLDI, DGP
• Silver ETFs: SLV, AGQ, PSLV, SIVR, ZSL, SLVO, DSLV, DBS, USV