by Mark O’Byrne
GoldCore
Gold prices gained 16% in the first quarter and had their best quarterly performance since 1986. Gold made gains due to continuing ultra loose monetary policies, diminished U.S. rate-increase expectations, worries about global economic growth, both U.S. and global geopolitical concerns and turmoil in markets.
Most of the gains came in the first six weeks of the year when market turmoil was at its worst and sharp falls were seen in stock markets. For the quarter, the S&P recovered from losses and eked out a 0.9% gain, the DJIA was 1.7 percent higher while the Nasdaq 100 fell 2.7% on concerns of a new tech bubble.