Paris Olympics 2024: Gold, Sensex dazzle since Tokyo 2021 games, CLSA says

Gold prices, CLSA said, have risen from $1,806 per ounce (oz) since Tokyo Olympics 2020 began on July 23, 2021 to $2,387/oz at the start of Paris Olympics 2024 on July 26

Paris Olympics 2024, India gold medals, Sensex: At a time when Indian sportsmen Manu Bhaker, Sarabjot Singh, Neeraj Chopra, Lakshya Sen and a host of other Indian athletes – are busy competing for the prized gold, silver and bronze medals in the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024 in France, the commodity basket of precious metals and the Indian frontline index – the Sensex – that have stood tall on the winner’s podium.

Gold among precious metals and Sensex among the frontline Asian indices have done exceedingly well since the Tokyo Olympics 2020 (held in 2021), suggests a recent note by CLSA. Gold prices, the research and brokerage house said, have risen from $1,806 per ounce (oz) since Tokyo Olympics 2020 began on July 23, 2021 to $2,387/oz at the start of Paris Olympics 2024 on July 26, 2024, translating into a gain of 32. 2 per cent since then.

In the last 24 years – Sydney Olympics 2000 (start date: September 15, 2000) – gold prices, CLSA notes, have surged from $270/oz to $2,387/oz at the start of Paris Olympics 2024 in France. This is a stupendous surge of 784 per cent during this period.

If the average rate of rise in prices as seen from Sydney Olympics 2000 till Paris Olympics 2024 in France continues, CLSA expects gold prices to hit $3581/oz by the time the next Olympics are held in the United States (Los Angeles Olympics 2028) on July 14, 2028 and reach $5,371/oz by July 23, 2032 when the Olympics are scheduled to be held in Brisbane, Australia (Brisbane Olympics 2032).

"Not that gold medals are made of gold anymore – they are only about 1 per cent gold. So when you win gold you aren’t getting gold. Better to invest in gold. An average 50 per cent gain in price between games since Sydney in 2000 is not bad. If the trend continues gold is US$5,300 by the time the Brisbane Games begin in 2032,” the CLSA note said.

Silver prices, on the other hand, CLSA said, have seen an average rise of 44 per cent from Sydney Olympics 2000 ($4.9/oz) till Paris Olympics 2024 (29.92), lower than the 50 per cent surge seen in the yellow metal. At this pace, CLSA estimates silver prices to reach $40.2/oz till Los Angeles Olympics 2028 and $57.89/oz till Brisbane Olympics 2032.

Among the frontline indexes CLSA tracks, Mongolia’s Top 20 MSE index bagged the gold with a rise of 3679.93 per cent since the start of Sydney Olympics in 2000 till the Paris Olympics 2024 started in July 2024, followed by Peru’s broad benchmark index - S&P BVL Peru General Index, Bucharest BET Index and Kazakhstan KASE Stock Exchange that have gained between 1337 per cent and 1818 per cent during this period.

The Sensex, too, has seen a stellar rally of 875.51 per cent during this period, and has been one of the steady, long distance runners across the Asia Pacific markets that CLSA tracks. Since the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 that were held in 2021, the Sensex has gained 36.51 per cent till the start of Paris Olympics 2024, CLSA said. Lusaka Stock Exchange has been the top performer during this period, rallying 151.03 per cent, followed by S&P Merval that moved up 146.96 per cent.

Among listed Indian stocks, Hindustan Aeronautics (up 693 per cent), Varun Beverages (512 per cent), REC Limited (386 per cent), Prestige Estate Projects (368 per cent), Oil India (365 per cent) and Bharat Electronics (353 per cent) have been the top gainers in US dollar terms since Tokyo Olympics till Paris Olympics 2024, CLSA said.