Chinese Investors Catch the Gold Bug (GLD)
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Investors in China are increasingly interested in gold. According to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, demand from Chinese investors will increase 10 percent in 2012.
China gold imports surged over 65 percent in April to over 100 tons, according to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. On the high end, analysts at ICBC say demand may reach 1,000 tons this year.
In terms of investment demand, China hit a record 98.6 metric tons in the first quarter, 13 percent higher than the same period in 2011. “Investors in China, facing lackluster equity markets and property curbs, are looking more to the metal,” Zheng Zhiguang of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China told Bloomberg.
“It’s necessary for individual, institutional or even government investors to hold gold when the value of money is decreasing at a time of possible quantitative easing or excessive money-printing practices,” said Zheng.
Gold prices hit a record high of $1,920/oz in Sept. 2011. Since then, the rally has faded and the price of gold has dropped below $1,600/oz. GLD (NYSE: GLD), an ETF that tracks the spot rate of gold, is lower by 0.75 percent year-to-date.
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China gold imports surged over 65 percent in April to over 100 tons, according to the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. On the high end, analysts at ICBC say demand may reach 1,000 tons this year.
In terms of investment demand, China hit a record 98.6 metric tons in the first quarter, 13 percent higher than the same period in 2011. “Investors in China, facing lackluster equity markets and property curbs, are looking more to the metal,” Zheng Zhiguang of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China told Bloomberg.
“It’s necessary for individual, institutional or even government investors to hold gold when the value of money is decreasing at a time of possible quantitative easing or excessive money-printing practices,” said Zheng.
Gold prices hit a record high of $1,920/oz in Sept. 2011. Since then, the rally has faded and the price of gold has dropped below $1,600/oz. GLD (NYSE: GLD), an ETF that tracks the spot rate of gold, is lower by 0.75 percent year-to-date.
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Gold and silver going up.
Fermin Ochotorena on Jun 12, 2012 02:01 PMMark as Spam | Reply to this comment
The value of currencies will decrease substantially with huge amounts of money printing to bailout bankrupt governments around the world.