Chinese gold retailers raise prices as international bullion gains

Source:Global Times Published: 2019/6/24 19:44:34

Gold retailers raise prices as international bullion gains


Gold bracelets are seen on display for sale at a gold store in Hong Kong File photo: IC



Chinese gold retailers are raising prices as international bullion prices keep rising amid an unstable global situation.

On Monday, the gold price surged to $1,403.90 per ounce (oz) in the afternoon trading session in the Asian market, after hitting the highest level since 2013 on Friday at $1,400 per oz.

The price of 999 gold in almost all domestic gold jewelry shops reached 395 yuan ($57.44) per gram, according to dyhjw.com, a gold investment information platform in China.

A gold ingot of 99.9 percent purity is considered to be 999 gold. 

For example, the 999 gold of Chow Tai Fook was sold at 336 yuan per gram last June, but now it has reached about 395 yuan, a salesperson in Beijing told the Global Times on Monday. 

"I saw an obvious price hike from last November," the salesperson said.

The gold price started to rise at the end of May, when it was $1,288 per oz, and climbed to a peak of $1,411 on Friday, an increase of more than 10 percent. 

A Reuters report said heightened tensions between the US and Iran boosted demand for the safe-haven metal.

The gold price is highly likely to rise above $1,500 or $1,600 by the end of the year, driven by risk aversion, according to Yu Guiying, a gold analyst based in Beijing.

"Hints of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday accelerated gold purchases as a hedge against inflation," Yu told the Global Times on Monday.

"Aggressive buying by central banks around the world has also contributed to the price rise," according to Yu.

Central banks bought 145.5 tons of gold in the first quarter of this year, up 68 percent from the same period last year and the highest level in six years, according to a report on trends in gold demand by the World Gold Council.


Newspaper headline: Gold retailers raise prices as international bullion gains



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