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Milestones: The rise and fall of go ld pricesLast updated on: April 19, 2013 10:04 IST

Gold prices hit two-year lows on Monday in theirbiggest one-day drop since 1983 as an exodus of

institutional money fueled expectations that bullion's 12

years of gains as a haven in a troubled world may

have stalled.Here are key dates in gold's trading history s ince

the early 1970s:

(Compiled by Josephine Mason, Clara Denina and

Frank Tang)

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August 1971 - U.S. President Richard Nixon takes the dollar off the gold standard, which had been in place with minor

modifications since the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 fixed the conversion rate for one troy ounce of gold at $35.

August 1972 - The United States devalues the dollar to $38 per ounce of gold

.

March 1973 - Most major countries adopt the floating exchange rate system.

May 1973 - U.S. devalues dollar to $42.22 per ounce.


estones: The rise and fall of gold prices - Rediff.com http://www.rediff.com/money/slide-show/slide-show-1-rise-and-fall-of...

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J anuary 1980 - Gold hits record high at $850 per

ounce. High inflation because of strong oil prices,Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and the impact of the

Iranian revolution prompt investors to move into the

metal.

August 1999 - Gold falls to a low at $251.70 on worries

about central banks reducing reserves of gold bullionand mining companies selling gold in forward markets

to protect against falling prices.

October 1999 - Gold reaches a two-year high at $338

after agreement to limit gold sales by 15 European

central banks. Market sentiment toward gold begins toturn more positive.



February 2003 - Gold rallies to a four-year high on safe-haven buying in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.


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December 2003-J anuary 2004 - Gold breaks above

$400 per ounce, reaching levels last traded in 1988.

Investors increasingly buy gold as risk insurance for

portfolios.

November 2005 - Spot gold breaches $500 for the firsttime since December 1987, when spot hit $502.97.

April 11, 2006 - Gold prices surpass $600, the highest

point since December 1980, with funds and investors

pouring money into commodities on a weak dollar, firmoil prices and political tensions over Iran's nuclearambitions.



May 12, 2006 - Gold prices peak at $730 an ounce as

funds and investors continue to pile into commodities.

J une 14, 2006 - Gold falls 26 percent to $543 from its26-year peak after investors and speculators sell out of

commodities.

November 7, 2007 - Spot gold hits a 28-year high of

$845.40.

J anuary 2, 2008 - Spot gold breaks above $850.



March 2008 - Benchmark gold contract trades over $1,000 for the first time in U.S. futures market, hitting all-time highsof $1,030.80 an ounce.

September 17, 2008 - Spot gold rises by nearly $90 an ounce, a record one-day gain, as investors seek safety amid

turmoil on the equity markets.

J an-March 2009 - Gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETF) report record inflows in the first quarter as financial sectorinsecurity spurs safe-haven buying. Holdings in the largest ETF, New York's SPDR Gold Trust, rise 45 percent to

1,127.44 tons.



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February 20, 2009 - Gold rises back above $1,000 an

ounce as investors buy bullion as a safe store of valueas major economies face recession and equity markets

tumble.

April 24, 2009 - China announces it has raised its gold

reserves by three-quarters since 2003 and now holds

1,054 tons of the precious metal, boosting expectationsit may further boost its stockpile.



August 7, 2009 - European central banks opt to renew their earlier agreement to limit gold sales over a five-year period,

setting the sales cap at 400 tons a year.

September 8, 2009 - Gold breaks back through $1,000 an ounce for the first time since February on dollar weakness

and concerns over the sustainability of the economic recovery.

December 2009 - Gold hits record high at $1,226.10 an ounce, with dollar weakness and expectations for central banks

to diversify reserves into gold driving prices higher.

May-J une 2010 - Gold jumps to fresh highs at $1,264.90 an ounce as underlying fears over financial market stability and

European sovereign risk combine with dollar weakness to push the metal through resistance at its previous high.



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September 2010 - Gold hits record highs peaking at

$1,300, as investors flock to bullion after the U.S.

Federal Reserve signals it may consider further

quantitative easing. The move weakens the dollar and

raises fears over future inflation.

October 2010 - Gold rallies to a new record near

$1,375 an ounce as the dollar comes under pressure

from building expectations for the Fed to take extra

measures to keep interest rates low and prop up the

economy.



November 2010 - Gold prices break through $1,400 an ounce for the first time as haven buying prompted by renewedbudget problems in Ireland more than offset a sharp dollar bounce.

December 7, 2010 - Gold reaches a record high above $1,425 an ounce, driven by fund buying ahead of year-end,

jitters over the euro-zone debt crisis and speculation about further U.S. monetary easing.

J anuary 2011 - Gold prices fall more than 6 percent in their worst monthly performance in over a year as a revival in risk

appetite diverts investment to higher-yielding assets.



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March 7, 2011 - Gold recovers to hit record highs of

$1,444.40 an ounce as unrest in Tunisia and Egyptspreads across the Middle East and North Africa,

boosting oil prices.

March 24, 2011 - The resignation of Portuguese prime

minister J ose Socrates pushes the euro zone debt

crisis back to center stage, lifting gold prices to a

record above $1,447 an ounce.

April 7, 2011 - Gold prices extend their record highs

toward $1,465 an ounce after the European Central

Bank casts doubts over expectations for interest rate

rises, while unrest in the Middle East encouragessafe-haven buying.



J uly 2011 - Gold hits new highs six times in two weeks, with prices peaking at $1,622.89 an ounce on persistent worries


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about the euro-zone debt crisis and a growing threat of

a U.S. government default.

Sept 6, 2011 - Gold sets all-time record high of $1,920

as worries about the deadlock over the U.S. debt

ceiling talks and euro-zone debt crisis fuel safe-havenbuying. Fed stimulus measures also encourage buying

as investors seek a hedge against inflation.



Sept 26, 2011 - Gold falls below $1,600 an ounce,posting its biggest three-day slide in 28-1/2 years asinvestors scramble for cash on fears of a Greek debt

default.

Nov 7, 2011 - Gold rises to a two-month high of

$1,794.10 an ounce after German Chancellor Angela

Merkel rules out using gold to boost the euro-zonebailout fund. Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's

decision not to resign plagues the bloc's effort to

contain its debt crisis.



Dec 29, 2011 - Year-end liquidation by funds and euro

zone debt fears push bullion briefly into bear market

territory. Gold falls to a six-month low at around $1,520

an ounce.

Feb 29, 2012 - Gold touches a high of $1,790.30 anounce before sliding 5 percent on the same day to

below $1,690 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben

Bernanke keeps mum on possibility of another round of

monetary easing.




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May 16, 2012 - Bullion briefly crosses into bear market

territory from its record in September 2011 as

intensifying fears about a Greek exit from the eurozone send gold prices to a 2012 low of $1,527 an

ounce.

September 2012 - Gold recovers to hit $1,795.69 an

ounce, its highest in almost a year and a peak for

2012, after the Fed announces a new round of

stimulus with a pledge to buy billions of dollars worth oflonger-term Treasuries each month.



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December 2012 - Gold rises after the Fed announces

another round of stimulus, but the gains are brief as

investor enthusiasm for gold as a hedge against

inflation starts to wane. Even so, prices rise for a 12th

straight year.

J anuary-March 2013 - Speculators cut their net long

position in U.S. Comex futures in a shift out ofcommodities and into stocks as S&P 500 and Dow

indices hit record highs.



February 20, 2013 - Federal Reserve minutes suggest U.S. central bank would consider reining in quantitative easing as


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the world's largest economy continues to recover,

triggering around $9 billion of net outflows from gold

ETFs.

March 21, 2013 - Gold hits four-week high at

$1,616.36 an ounce underpinned by safe havendemand on fears of a potential financial meltdown in

Cyprus.



March 25, 2013 - Prices fall to 10-day lows and ETF

holdings drop to lowest since J uly 2011 after Cyprus

strikes last-minute bailout deal with EU and IMFlenders.

April 5, 2013 - Gold rallies over 1.5 percent, its biggest

one-day gain since November 2012, as disappointing

U.S. job data ignites expectations the Fed will continue

its bullion-friendly purchases.



April 10, 2013 - Gold falls almost 2 percent after a

European Commission report shows Cyprus might be

forced to sell bullion reserves to raise around 400

million euros as part of its bailout.

April 11, 2013 - Gold sinks more than 5 percent tobelow $1,500 an ounce for the first time since J uly

2011, entering bear territory as institutional investors

flee bullion in favor of other safe-haven assets.




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April 14, 2013 - Panic selling continues with gold

plunging 9 percent, its biggest one-day drop in 30

years, to $1,336.04 an ounce. The sell-off reinforcedexpectations that bullion's 12 years of gains have come

to an abrupt halt.

April 16 - Gold recover almost 2 percent after buyers of

physical bullion jumped in at cheaper prices following

the historic plummet. There is little confidence that gold

is out of the woods.


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