Gold prices to resume decline?

Photo: Bullion Vault

Gold investment has outperformed stocks in the last five years, according to research from BullionVault, but precious metal prices have fallen this year, although a recent upturn in gold was driven by a weakening of the US dollar.

Silver and platinum also fell off their gains to follow gold’s lead, reports FastMarkets.

“Gold and the USD have an historical inverse relationship and the prospect of further USD weakness may help buoy bullion, in our view,” a report from HSBC is quoted by FastMarkets. “That said, we see the potential for further gold gains likely to be capped.”

Earlier this year, the bank reduced gold’s weighting into its strategic portfolio, lowering its allocation from 7 per cent in July to 4 per cent.

“We cut our weights to gold and commodities, as both appear to be poor strategic investments given the economic outlook,” the bank told Bloomberg.

Other alternative investment news this week:

Rural estates in England continue strong performance

Rural estates in England are continuing their strong performance in 2013, according to Savills.

The group’s 2013 Estate Benchmarking Survey shows that the average income on all estates grew 5.3 per cent to £212 per acre, driven by a rise in the agricultural sector of 2.3 per cent and a 4.6 per cent growth in the residential sector.

In the Eastern regions of the country, agriculture is the main income stream, representing over half of all gross income. Across the country, all types of agricultural rents strengthened, as rising values of farmland underpins the value of estates.

China invests in 3 million hectares of Ukraine farmland

In England, farmland has never been stronger, with values climbing to all-time highs. The asset’s strength is not just restricted to one country, though: a growing global population and finite supply of land is pushing up demand for rural land across the world. Indeed, China is investing in 3 million hectares of Ukrainian farmland as it races to meet food demand.

In 2009, China owned 2 million hectares of farming land abroad, reports Global Times. Its new deal will secure an additional 100,000 hectares from Ukraine, a share that will gradually increase to 3 million.