gold

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Indians rush to buy more gold during festive period

Despite a huge jump in gold prices , Indians thronged gold markets all across the country on Monday, with serpentine queues outside retail outlets way past midnight, buying up gold coins rather than gold jewellery.
Author: Shivom Seth
Posted: Tuesday , 25 Oct 2011

MUMBAI - -

If any more proof was needed about India's craze for gold, one just has to look at sales in just one city for just one day. Nearly 35 kilograms of gold was sold on a single day on Monday, earning more than $1.8 billion for traders on the highly auspicious Dhanteras, the day preceding Diwali.

Even as Indians get ready to celebrate the festival of lights Diwali on Wednesday, October 26, the people of Chandigarh in Punjab have shown the intensity with which the yellow metal continues to be revered in the country by buying up massive quantities of gold on Monday


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Surging Chinese retail gold demand sees a blossoming of new bourses

Many small Chinese investors are turning to gold as an investment opportunity and a host of new, small gold exchanges popping up to fill the gaps left by large institutions and China's strict investment laws
Author: Rujun Shen (Reuters)
Posted: Wednesday , 26 Oct 2011

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -

Twenty-four-year-old Xin Wenting stays up until one o'clock on most days, looking after her gold investment during the ebb and flow of global trade.

Many small investors in China have turned to gold as high inflation threatens to erode wealth in the world's second-largest economy, leading to small gold exchanges springing up all over the country.

The influx of retail investors promises to not only boost Chinese gold demand, but also increase its volatility.

"I wanted to invest my savings, because otherwise the money would just be idling around. Some friends were doing gold, and the stock market wasn't looking promising, so I jumped on the bandwagon," Xin said.

Investment choices for small players are limited, and the new exchanges are filling this niche.

"Many existing institutions target their investment products to the rich," said Lu Mingde, who is in charge of the marketing department of the Zhejiang Gold and Silver Products Market.

"If you are a small investor, you could only put your money in the stock market. But we are happy to serve these clients."

The exchange launched trading of spot gold and silver in August 2010, and added ruthenium this month. Total trading volume stood at 3.1 billion yuan ($486 million) by 1358 local time, according to the website of the exchange, which trades from 0930 a.m. to 0800 a.m. the next morning.

Volume on the spot gold deferred contract on the Shanghai Gold Exchange , known as gold T+D, hit a daily record high of 39,128 kilograms on Aug. 25, or about 14 billion yuan in value.

On Oct. 24, trading volume on the contract shrank to 8,010 kilograms, or 5.4 billion yuan.

WHEN THERE IS A NEED, THERE IS A WAY

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has slumped about 16 percent so far this year, compared to a 13-percent rally in prices of Shanghai's spot gold deferred contract .

The country's property market, once a popular choice for investors, has suffered from a government crackdown on speculation.

"I still have some money in the stock market, but it's been trapped since the market crash in 2007. Ever since I started doing gold, I don't want ever to deal with the stock market again," said Ren Yanhong, who runs her own clothing business in the eastern city of Shaoxing and started investing in gold in 2008. Tweet