The Gold prices go up only when the global economic environment looks uncertain. The US economy and also the European economy are in doldrums and there are no clear signs of recovery in these two pillars of the global system.
Also Japan continues to reel under pressure, and hence people are latching on to Gold in order to avoid loss of value of their valuable savings.
Even countries are now latching up the available Gold in the system, with China being the key buyer of Gold in the last 12 months. China has been single handedly responsible for the Gold prices to surge up over 60% in the last 12 months. Analysts are expecting the Gold prices to surge by another 50% in the next one year.