Gold Market Rebounds
With gold being one of the asset categories for the secured asset loans provided by peer-to-peer lender Unbolted, findings from the World Gold Council’s Full Year 2015 Gold Demand Trends report make interesting reading: demand for gold rose by 4% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, hitting a ten-quarter high of 1,117.7 tonnes (t).
H1 2015 was challenging for gold, but with consumers seeking to take advantage of lower gold prices in H2, demand began to pick up.
The trend reflects that in the central bank (CB) space: CB demand for gold in H2 was higher than in H1, but looked at as a whole, demand from central banks was up 25%, reaffirming their prominence in the gold market.
Chinese consumers grew cautious in the context of lacklustre economic performance, with jewellery demand falling in the last quarter. However, bar and coin sales soared by 25% in Q4.
The Chinese Central Bank increased its gold holdings by 604t in July and has steadily continued to do so. Total holdings now stand at 1762.3t.
In India, gold benefitted from the traditionally strong demand of the fourth-quarter festival and wedding season. Jewellery demand is up by 6%.
Bar and coin sales in the UK and US also increased during Q4, climbing by 43% and 15% respectively. The US jewellery market continued to expand, rising by 3% last year.
In Europe, the strength of the jewellery market in the UK and Spain wasn’t sufficient to offset declines in France, Italy and Germany.
Demand for gold is strong at the start of 2016, and the fundamentals appear to suggest continued demand for the rest of the year.
see full report from the World Gold Council here
