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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1000512023699063514\nGold's Brief Surge\nCheryl Strauss Einhorn\nUpdated Sept. 17, 2001 12:01 am ET / Original Jan. 21, 2020 5:41 pm ET\nA knee-jerk reaction. that's what occurred in the gold market on Tuesday when the U.S. was attacked by terrorists. Prices rallied 5.4% that day, to $286 an ounce in London, after the major gold market in New York closed prematurely following evacuation of its Mercantile Exchange 9:08 a.m. (New York's \"Merc,\" just west of the World Trade Center, is still standing, although building structures are being checked.) Though the move occurred in an illiquid market after the destruction of the twin towers, it was gold's biggest one-day gain in two years.\nInvestors were surprised by the move. While gold was once considered a safe haven during times of uncertainty and civil unrest, it has lost its luster in recent years as the financial markets have become much more sophisticated and better hedges against financial turmoil have become accessible.\nThe U.S. dollar, in particular, has become the safe haven of choice for investors worldwide. This was evident during the Russian and Asian financial crises, when gold sagged and the dollar rallied. \"At the time, the response was muted,\" says a New York-based mining analyst at a major financial-services firm. \"We were disappointed. We expected a lot more would happen.\"\nThis time, however, investors were worried about the greenback, and about the general welfare of our nation. Thus, they chose to buy gold. Investors didn't bid up prices for deferred delivery of gold. No, this time, in the heat of the moment, they bought the active contract; they were interested in physical gold.\nKey Commodity Indexes\nCRB Group Indexes 9/14 9/7 Yr. Ago\nCRB Futures 197.62 198.50 229.78\nIndustrials 146.24 146.56 226.87\nGrains/Oils 170.15 169.78 164.13\nLivestock 246.46 245.40 226.47\nEnergy 226.41 251.37 358.59\nPrecious Metals 229.44 230.65 272.53\nGold demand shifted to Japan at the start of that country's trading day Wednesday, where the TOCOM, as the Japanese market is known, traded up the daily limit -- $10.40 an ounce. Over 9,000 lots, or nine metric tons, of gold Buy orders were placed before the opening. The last time gold reacted this way was during the Persian Gulf War, when the price rallied over an eight-hour period and then settled back.\nHere too, gold prices did not hold their gains -- nor should investors have necessarily expected them to as all other markets took stock. \"The belief that gold always soars in times of crises is a misconception,\" contends Rhona O'Connell, an analyst at the World Gold Council in London. \"Its role as a hedge against risk means that it tends to be bought in anticipation of a problem and then sold, if necessary, if and when such a crisis materializes.\"\nThus in London trading on Wednesday, gold prices fell $8, or 2.8%, to $278.25 an ounce, even as the bank of England sold 20 metric tons at $280 an ounce -- an auction where investors sought four times more bullion than was offered.\nThe TOCOM sold down as well, dropping $5.25 Thursday to $280.25 an ounce.\nGold stocks had a similar reaction to gold prices around the world. In Johannesburg, South Africa, the country's gold stock index, which is comprised of 11 companies, including Anglogold, Goldfields and Harmony Gold, shot up 9.3%, its biggest gain since September 1999, when 15 European Central Banks signed an accord promising to limit their official sector gold sales.\nOne day later, the index gave back some of its gains, falling nearly 5%. \"But remember,\" cautions the New York mining analyst, \"this is an emerging market, and the movement there right now is reflective of people getting out of emerging-market holdings in general. That has a depressing effect on gold equities, because they are one of the more liquid sectors there.\"\nThe story, however, was the same in Canada; when the Toronto Gold index opened Thursday, it sold off by over 4%.\nAs for what may happen in the U.S. when the gold market reopens -- and it is unclear as yet when that will be, given that the New York Mercantile Exchange is in the \"frozen zone\" where rescue workers continue to toil -- the New York analyst says he thinks prices will hold some of their gains. He thinks the Federal Reserve is likely to ease interest rates by another half-percentage point, which could spur inflation.\nIn addition, the risk premium in the market has obviously gone way up. \"Things have changed,\" he says, \"and gold is more valuable to me today than it was earlier this week.\"\nHe is less sanguine about gold equities. \"If gold cannot move higher, there will be widespread selling, not only in the metal but also in the stocks. A lot of people buy these as a lottery ticket, even though the fundamentals are pathetic. There is no reason to own gold equities unless you think the gold price is going higher.\"\nGold closed Friday in London at $285.50 an ounce, within a dollar of its closing price after Tuesday's terrorist attack in the U.S.\nE-mail comments to editors@barrons.com\nDespite attack, the metal's outlook isn't bright"