As the deadly coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) is sparking fears of a global pandemic, investors in South Korea are flocking to safe haven assets, gold in particular, according to data Friday.

The accumulative transactions of gold in the first two months of this year at the Korea Gold Exchange, a private gold exchange here, stood at 27,243, up 192 percent from the same period last year. The exchange said investors’ increasing preference toward safe haven assets is behind the drastic growth.

The gold price, which came in at $1,312 per 28 grams on average during the past decade, jumped to $1,670 as of today in the morning. The price has been getting close to an all-time high of $1,800 marked in 2011. Despite the expensive price tag, demand for the previous metal has surged for the past months coupled with volatile stock markets worldwide and the US Federal Reserve’s emergency rate cut.

“Forecasts on the gold price have been revised up from $1,720 to $1,850 recently, so the rally will highly likely continue,” said Song Jong-gil, an executive at the gold exchange.

Sales of silver bars have also risen recently. From 8.7 tons in 2018, they grew by 420 percent to 36.7 tons last year.

Of 21,832 people who tested positive as of Friday, 6,284 cases were confirmed, with the death toll coming in at 42.

By Kim Young-won (wone010@@heraldcorp.com)