Gold disappoints at the beginning of the year

The price of gold is currently around 7% lower than the historic high reached at the end of December, with the major fluctuations recorded at the beginning of this year being troublesome for investors who let themselves be mesmerised by the spectacular rises recorded in previous years.
One gramme of gold was yesterday worth nearly 138 lei at the NBR (central bank) exchange rate, compared with a historic high of 147 lei, reached on December 29th of 2010. The last few days have, however, brought a slight rebound in the price of gold, which had fallen to 131 lei/gramme in the first week of February.
The abrupt decline recorded at the beginning of this year is in stark contrast with the 40% leap in the price of gold recorded in 2010, after in 2009 it had climbed by over 30%. A poll conducted last week by international news agency Bloomberg showed that five of the analysts who accurately predicted the trend of the price of gold in the last two years expect a further 20% growth for 2011.
Gold is considered a safe haven asset that investors turn to in order to be protected either from high inflation or from financial market turmoil.