December Gold News 2021

Economists are predicting that the UK's GDP – Gross Domestic Product – will hit between 4.6% and 5% in 2022. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), Goldman Sachs, S&P Global, and HSBC are all forecasting very similar estimates for the United Kingdom next year; figures which would see Britain outperform the other G7 nations.

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Major stock markets enjoyed mixed fortunes on the last day of trading before Christmas, with the FTSE 100 briefly hitting not only a pandemic high of 7,403.65 points but the highest level since February 2020 - before the first Covid lockdown when the exchange hit 7,403.92.

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The FTSE 100 is amongst the major markets currently down so far today, having fallen by 1.3% so far and 2.2% at its peak drop over concerns about the latest Covid variant – Omicron.

As a result, the pound is currently down 0.4% against the US dollar at $1.3195 – undoing the gains made last week following the Bank of England's interest rate rise.

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America's central bank, the Federal Reserve, has announced that it will be ending its bond-buying stimulus programme sooner than originally intended.

The move has been announced in light of the rapidly rising inflation rate in the United States – currently at 6.8% following the quickest inflation rise since the Reagan tenure in the White House.

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The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has surprised markets today by voting to increase interest rates. After expecting a rate rise last month the BoE failed to deliver, but has instead caught markets off guard with today’s vote despite growing concerns over the new Omicron variant.

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Inflation in the United Kingdom has hit 5.1% according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data released today. This puts inflation at a ten-year high, and confirmed the fears of economists and business owners that inflation was growing quicker than forecast.

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The Central Bank of Ireland has added 2 tonnes of gold to its reserves this year, with gold purchases in September and October.

The discreet purchase sees an increase in Ireland's holdings from 6 tonnes to 8 tonnes; a sizeable 33% increase that leans into the idea that central banks are concerned about the continued inflation globally.

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