Gold's surge tests plunging dollar's credibility

Fed plays crucial role amid massive government spending and currency printing

While status-seeking Indian and Chinese jewelry buyers lose their appetite for gold, investors are gaining a fondness for the metal. (Source photos from Reuters)

MISA HAMA, TATSUYA GOTO and RURIKA IMAHASHI, Nikkei staff writers

August 10, 2020 04:05 JST

TOKYO/NEW YORK -- The price of gold is surging as the coronavirus rages around the world and the U.S. dollar shrinks.

According to the World Gold Council, demand for gold jewelry in China in the first half of 2020 was 52% less than it was a year earlier. To Chinese, gold is a symbol of wealth and status, but the pandemic has hit the economy hard, making prestige less of a priority.