Insights

Gold recently crossed US$3,000/oz intraday – a headline-worthy event, but the true significance for gold lies in the broader economic trends driving its rise.

China’s official gold holdings rose four months in a row, adding another 5t in February. And Chinese gold investors bought gold ETFs at a record pace in the month, pushing both AUM and holdings to unseen levels. However, gold jewellery demand weakness, amid seasonality and the rising gold price, weighed on total wholesale gold demand in the month.

In this episode of Unearthed, hosts Joe Cavatoni and John Reade kick off 2025 by discussing key trends likely to shape the gold market amid global uncertainty.

With gold being a vital component of many of today's electronic devices, we look at the growth of Artificial Intelligence as an important emerging area of demand.

In this episode, hosts John Reade and Joe Cavatoni from the World Gold Council interview Lorne Whitmore,  Managing Director Sales, Precious Metal Products and Services, Royal Canadian Mint, to discuss the comprehensive products and services that the Royal Canadian Mint provides across mining and refining, minting and vaulting.

The rapid rise in the gold price during March raised  several questions. One of these was whether central banks – whose demand has been posited as a key reason for the recent rally – would change their gold buying behaviour in response.

In this episode of "Unearthed," hosts Joe Cavatoni and John Reade speak with Randy Smallwood, President & CEO of Wheaton Precious Metals, discussing the innovative streaming business model that has significantly influenced the precious metals industry.

In this insightful episode hosted by John Reade and Joseph Cavatoni from the World Gold Council, guest Karim Chedid, Head of EMEA Investment Strategy for iShares and a Managing Director at BlackRock, discusses the current macroeconomic environment.

Last week, we held an investor webinar with a focus on geopolitics, macro-economics and asset allocation in 2024. Joe Cavatoni, our Market Strategist for the Americas was joined for an insightful dialogue with two seasoned investment experts.

In this episode of the World Gold Council’s Unearthed podcast, hosts John Reade and Joe Cavatoni engage with Dr. Trevor Keel, Director of Material Value Ltd and Consultant for the World Gold Council.

Gold price in INR rose in tandem (11% since October) with the LBMA Gold Price PM in USD, due to the stable INR/USD.

Investors often ask us if the gold price experiences any seasonal effects. The short answer is that gold tends to do well, on average, in both January and late summer. Reasons behind these effects can be linked to portfolio rebalancing, bond performance and seasonal gold demand.

In this episode of the podcast, hosts John Reade and Joe Cavatoni are joined by Tina Fordham, the founder of Fordham Global Foresight.

In the latest episode of "Unearthed," hosts John Reade and Joe Cavatoni dive into the pressing question: Why are central banks stocking up on gold?

The LBMA Gold Price AM in USD and the Shanghai Gold Benchmark PM (SHAUPM) in RMB bounced higher, both recording the strongest monthly gains since March. The local gold price premium fell from its record high, possibly driven by weaker gold demand during the month.

• Reported global central bank gold reserves, via the IMF and publicly available sources, rose by a net 77t in September
• Gross sales (1t) were dwarfed by gross purchases (78t), highlighting the strength of buying

Gold has gained 3% this week largely attributed to an escalation of geopolitical tensions linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

China’s local gold price premium has rocketed to previously unseen levels, reaching US$121/oz on 14 September. And August’s US$41/oz monthly average already marked a record since the Shanghai Gold Exchange’s establishment in 2002.

Expectations for the end of the BoJ’s negative policy rate intensified

The BoJ relaxed its yield curve control (YCC) program in late July. Governor Ueda’s first surprise move since taking the wheel: he effectively doubled the YCC’s upper limit to 1%, while keeping the policy rate unchanged at -0.1%. This led to surges in both the 10-year JGB yield and its volatility. 

Gold prices quoted in USD and RMB headed in different directions in August. Major factors including rising US Treasury yields and a strong dollar weighed on the international gold price in USD. But the Chinese currency weakness, which depreciated by 2% against the dollar in the month, led to a mild increase in the RMB gold price.