At the end of January, the new head of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, announced the launch of a year-long strategic review of the bank’s monetary policy strategy. Stemming from this, there has been much discussion recently about the ECB’s existing “below but close to 2%” inflation target, and whether this needs to be made more specific, both in aim and measurement.
Wedding and stable domestic gold price at ~Rs 37800/10gm helped demand in first half of December but demand tailed off after 15th December after the beginning of inauspicious period and rising gold price which jumped by 3.7% from mid-December till end of the month.
On 25th January 2020, people throughout China will celebrate the start of a new year – the most important festival in the Chinese lunar calendar. This will kick off Year of the Rat and begin another rotation of the twelve zodiac signs. Most people are already in a festive mood, and, as a result, so is China’s gold market.
Gold has a special place in the Australian psyche. The gold rush of the early 1850s helped propel the country’s economy, stimulate its industries and grow its population. Australia is the world’s second largest gold producer and gold remains its third major commodity export. And over the last few years the Australian gold sector has flourished, with record mine production and record gold prices... But any sense of sectoral optimism is in danger of evaporating as the country struggles to cope with raging bushfires of unprecedented intensity and scale.
China’s first exchange-traded gold future’s option was listed on 20th December 2019 on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE). While gold options already existed in China, these were traded over-the-counter (OTC) on the OTC market platform at the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) and linked to physical gold products.
Gold has long been recognised as a safe haven, an asset that investors seek out for protection and security during uncertain times... That certainly seems to have been borne out over the last week, with gold reaching a seven-year high.
In November, central banks reported adding 27.9 tonnes – on a net basis – to global official gold reserves, 43% lower than October’s increase. On a year-to-date basis, this brings cumulative net purchases to 570.2t, 11% higher the same period in 2018 (515.2t).
Co-hosted by China Gold Association, World Gold Council, Shanghai Gold Exchange, Shanghai Futures Exchange and the Shanghai Gold and Jewellery Association, the 2019 Annual Precious Metals Conference was held in Shanghai on 10th and 11th December. Over 400 gold industry leaders and representatives from China and other regions participated. Here are a few key takeaways.
Summary
Summary
The discovery of the process to harden pure gold has formed the foundation for all innovative pure gold products and become an important feature favoured by consumers and jewellers... The hard-pure gold jewellery market is booming but lacks an industry standard defining these products and providing industry guidance.
The World Gold Council China team has been working with the National Jewellery Standardisation Committee, industry associations and leading Chinese jewellers, to draft proper standards for hard-pure gold jewelleries.
