With topological events in the past year, there’s been a significant rise in interest in gold investments. This precious metal is often viewed as a safe haven during economic uncertainty, attracting everyone from individual investors to central banks and hedge fund managers.

If you’re looking to start investing in gold, you’re in the right place. In this guide, we’ll explore how to buy gold in the UK, discuss whether gold is a worthwhile investment, and provide a step-by-step guide to help you get started.

How to Buy Gold in 4 Steps

With Xtrememarkets, you can purchase gold without paying commissions, with only spreads and swaps applicable depending on your account type. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to buying gold through the Xtrememarkets Trade.MT5 account. This account allows you to speculate on gold’s price movements using CFDs (Contracts for Difference). With CFDs, you can profit from both rising and falling gold prices.

1. Open an account with Xtrememarkets to access the Dashboard.
2. Click on Trade in one of your live accounts to open the web platform.
3. Search for Gold at the bottom of the Market Watch window and drag the symbol onto the chart.
4. Use the one-click trading feature or right-click to open a trading ticket, where you can input your trade size, stop loss, and take profit.

Prefer Investing in Gold?

If you prefer to invest in gold and want to capitalize on its price performance, Xtrememarkets offers another option.

The Xtrememarkets Wallet Gold Account lets you benefit from gold’s performance with zero holding costs. Simply transfer your investment capital (in USD, EUR, GBP, etc.)

Is Investing in Gold a Good Idea?

A common question among beginner traders is whether in gold is a wise choice. With all the around gold, many people are also wondering whether invest in physical gold (like bars and bullion) is better in gold futures or spot gold.

3 Gold Investing Strategies

There are multiple ways to invest in gold. Understanding your investment purpose is crucial in choosing the right strategies and tools. Some investors may prefer short-term speculation, while others might focus on long-term investments to hedge against a declining stock portfolio. Below are details on three gold investment strategies.

1. Long-Term Gold Invest Strategies Gold is often used by long-term investors to diversify their portfolios. Fund managers, for example, typically allocate portions to stocks, bonds, and metals like gold to spread risk. Gold’s lower volatility compared to stocks makes it a patient investor’s choice.

However, long-term investments in physical gold (bars or bullion) can come with challenges, such as storage and insurance costs. Because bullion bars come in fixed, often expensive sizes, some investors prefer gold mining stocks or gold ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) instead.

The SPDR Gold Shares ETF, for instance, aims to reflect the price performance of gold bullion and was the first US-traded ETF backed by a physical asset.

2. Short-Term Gold Trading Strategies Some investors focus on short-term gold trades, speculating on price movements. Which is the current market price for gold. Futures contracts are another popular method, involving agreements to buy or sell gold at a future date.

Xtrememarkets offers trading in gold futures via CFDs, allowing you to go long or short with the potential to profit from market fluctuations. CFDs also enable leveraged trading, where you control a larger position with a smaller deposit, though this comes with increased risk.

For short-term traders, the speed of entering and exiting positions is critical, and CFDs offer the flexibility to do so without owning the physical asset.

3. Gold Hedging Strategies Larger fund managers often use gold as a hedge to offset portfolio losses. Gold can serve as a safe haven during economic uncertainty, as it retains value while other assets may falter.

Gold is often used as a hedge against inflation. In times of rising inflation, the purchasing power of currencies decreases, leading to higher gold prices. Investors might flock to gold during inflationary periods, expecting it to retain or increase its value.

When to Start Investing in Gold?

Timing is one of the biggest challenges in gold invest. While fundamental factors like inflation or economic instability may support gold trading, determining the best time to enter the market can be tricky.

This is where advanced tools like Xtrememarkets’ Technical Insight Lookup indicator come in handy. This tool provides actionable insights and trading ideas across various markets, including gold. It categorizes technical events into short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term developments.

The tool also offers detailed explanations and visual representations of these technical events, making it a valuable resource for learning and decision-making.

Get Start with a Free Demo Account

Did you know you can start today with a FREE demo trading account? This account lets you explore all the services and features Xtrememarkets offers in a risk-free virtual environment, helping you build the skills and confidence to eventually transition to a live account.