Gold prices surged to a new record, a sign of economic uncertainty.

Live from the UK, this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service.

I'm William Lee Adams. Good morning.

Trading in Asia has seen gold breach $4,000 an ounce for the first time,

following one of its strongest monthly performances and its biggest sustained rally since the 1970s.

Even allowing for inflation, this is the most valuable gold has ever been.

BBC business reporter Nick Marsh is here to break that down. Nick High.

Hi, William.

What's driving this rush to gold?

The cliche is that investors buy gold in times of uncertainty, and it's a cliche largely because it's

often true. The last time we saw a rally in the price of gold like this was in the 1970s during a massive

global energy crisis and economic downturn across the world. People then turn to gold as they are now. This time

round, we've got trade tensions. We've got a president in the White House regularly lambasting

the head of the American Central Bank. There are obviously conflicts and alliances being reshaped

across the world. So investors are saying, well, right now,

politically, economically, I'd rather not put my money in stocks, in shares, in bonds. I'd rather

buy gold, which is traditionally seen as reliable, even in these uncertain times.

And what about the US government shut down?

Does that play a role in any of this?

Yeah, it's definitely played a pretty big role in the last week or so.

That is because with the government shut down,

the important data that it releases on a weekly basis,

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