Gold’s scorching rally gathered more force, with prices driven higher into record territory above $2 000/oz as investors assessed prospects of more stimulus to combat the pandemic’s fallout, another slide in US real yields and increased geopolitical risks.

Bullion is up more than 30% this year, and could extend gains as governments and central banks respond to slowing growth with vast amounts of support. The haven’s allure as a store of wealth is strengthening as investors face the prospect of a long global recovery, and the debasement of fiat currencies, with banks including Goldman Sachs Group forecasting a rally to $2 300.

“The stage has been set for gold to continue to climb higher,” Paul Wong, market strategist at Sprott, said in a report. “We see increased fiscal spending ahead, extremely accommodative monetary policy in place for years and a challenging economic recovery, as stated by the Fed.”

Shifts in the U.S. bond market have also underpinned gold’s meteoric ascent, with an added lift from a weaker dollar. Real yields on 10-year Treasuries have collapsed below zero and hit a record low below -1% on Tuesday. After sinking 3.3% in July, the U.S. currency is now lower in 2020.

Spot gold rose as much as 0.6% to a record $2 031.14 an ounce and traded at $2 019.74 at 8:51 a.m. in Singapore, while most-active futures traded as high as $2 048.60 on the Comex. Spot silver climbed as much as 1.3% to $26.3473 an ounce, the highest since 2013, before trading lower.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the White House and Democrats aim to strike a deal on virus-relief legislation this week -- even though the two sides remain far apart on some issues. Meanwhile, US and Chinese officials plan to assess the nations’ trade accord this month against a backdrop of rising tensions between the countries, according to people briefed on the matter.

Apart from the simmering US-China tensions, other geopolitical risks -- including a massive explosion at Lebanon’s main port on Tuesday -- are lifting demand for the haven asset.