*LONDON – Gold prices touched below $1,200 per ounce on Monday to theirlowest since late January 2017, losing out to U.S. Treasuries and a strongdollar as investors sought refuge from a financial market rout triggered bya crashing Turkish lira.*
Investors traditionally use gold as a means of preserving the value oftheir assets during times of political and economic uncertainty andinflation, but it has this year failed to benefit. Instead investors havemade a beeline for U.S. Treasuries, seen as the ultimate safe haven, whichmeant they had to buy dollars.
The lira has tumbled on worries over Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’sincreasing control over the economy and deteriorating relations with theUnited States. An investor flight to safety lifted U.S. Treasury yieldsfrom four-weeks lows.