Research library

Gold demand stayed soft in Q2, dropping to 964.3t. The H1 total of 1,959.9t is the lowest since 2009.

Today, China’s gold industry is at a crossroads; leading stakeholders are asking where it will go next. We believe the consideration of three questions will help set the course for the industry over the next three to five years.

Gold rose by more than 4% in the first few months of 2018, only to finish June down by the same amount. Gold’s price momentum and investor positioning in derivatives markets accelerated this descent, but we believe that there may be reasons to be optimistic. Key macroeconomic trends developing in the second half of 2018 may spur investor demand and opportunistic buying.

Over the past decade, the technology sector has accounted for more than 380 tonnes of gold demand annually, a significant figure in itself and almost 13% ahead of central bank net purchases during the same period. This edition of Gold Investor focuses on technology, analysing gold’s current use and future potential across a range of applications.

Gold 2048 brings together industry-leading experts from across the globe to analyse how the gold market is set to evolve in the next 30 years with key insights from authors such as George Magnus, senior economist; Rick Lacaille, Global Chief Investment Officer of State Street Global Advisors; and Michelle Ash, Chief Innovation Officer at Barrick Gold.

Gold demand of 973.5t was the lowest Q1 since 2008. The main cause was a fall in investment demand for gold bars and gold-backed ETFs, partly due to range-bound gold prices. 

The strong gold price performance was a positive for investors and producers, and was symptomatic of a more profound shift in sentiment: a growing recognition of gold’s role as a wealth preservation and risk mitigation tool. This goes to the heart of our strategy to make gold a mainstream asset.

On February 5th, stock markets suffered one of their more precipitous falls in recent years. The gold price rose but, as stocks partly retraced their losses, gold trended lower.

Gold demand rallied in the closing months of 2017, gaining 6% year-on-year (y-o-y) to 1,095.8 tonnes (t) in Q4. But it was too little, too late: full year demand fell by 7% to 4,071.7t. 

In 2017, investors added gold to their portfolios as incomes increased, uncertainty loomed, and gold’s positive price momentum continued. As 2018 begins we explore four key market trends and their implications for gold.