
Featured Report
Over the past three decades the gold market has undergone extraordinary change . The structure and dynamics of demand and supply are vastly different from those of thirty years ago.
Colossal central bank purchases, aided by vigorous retail investor buying and slower ETF outflows, lifted annual demand to an 11-year high. Annual gold demand (excluding OTC) jumped 18% to 4,741t, almost on a par with 2011 – a time of exceptional investment demand. The strong full-year total was aided by record Q4 demand of 1,337t.
The notable rebound in Q3 Chinese gold jewellery demand from the COVID-stricken Q2 and easing COVID restrictions paints a bright picture for the future. And our third annual gold jewellery retailer survey with China Gold News suggest that opportunities abound.
The global economy is at an inflection point after being hit by various shocks over the past year. The biggest was induced by central banks as they stepped up their aggressive fight against inflation.
Global gold ETFs registered their seventh consecutive month of net outflows in November. But outflows slowed to a relatively modest 33t (US$1.8bn), having also decelerated m-o-m in October (to -59t).
Global gold ETFs saw a net outflow of 59t (US$3bn) in October, the sixth straight month of declines in holdings. In October, y-t-d changes in gold ETF holdings turned negative for the first time in 2022, now 1% lower on the year
Gold demand (excluding OTC) in Q3 was 28% higher y-o-y at 1,181t. Year-to-date (y-t-d) demand increased 18% vs the same period in 2021, returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Gold fell for the sixth consecutive month, dropping 2.6% to finish September at US$1,671.8/oz. It was a challenging month for most assets, with global equities down 9.5%, global bonds down 5.1% and commodities down 8.4%.
Global gold ETFs posted their fifth consecutive month of net outflows in September as holdings dropped by a further 95t (US$5bn). This is also the largest monthly outflow since March 2021 (107t).
Global gold ETFs registered outflows of 51t (US$2.9bn, 1.4%) in August, in line with price performance. This was the fourth consecutive month of outflows. Funds have now given back two-thirds of the inflows accumulated through April; y-t-d global inflows are 102t (US$7.5bn), with total holdings at 3,651t (US$202bn), up 3.6% on the year.