Retail investors' speculation causing a surge in gold prices? Expert: Gold prices are expected to reach $3000 in the future
The price of gold in China has been rising in sync with the US dollar index and the US bond index since early March this year. Many market participants believe that this rise is mainly driven by a large number of retail investors on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Chinese consumers and institutional investors are rushing to buy physical gold bars, and the People's Bank of China has been buying gold for 17 consecutive months. The CEO of the precious metals trading daily, Metals Daily, stated that this rise may be a result of large-scale speculation by highly leveraged Chinese investors. Renowned economists predict that the price of gold will reach $3,000 per ounce. The People's Bank of China has significant room in the coming years to approach the global gold reserve benchmark
Zhitong Finance APP learned that since early March this year, the price of gold has broken convention and risen in sync with the US dollar index and US bond index. From March 1 to April 19, 2024, in just 35 trading days, the price of gold has accumulated a growth of over 14%, driving many natural resource commodities such as silver to rise simultaneously. Several market participants analyze that the main driving force behind this round of gold price increase is a large number of retail investors from the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
According to media reports, the trading volume of the Shanghai Futures Exchange has shown explosive growth this month, with the daily average trading volume in April almost double that of the previous 12 months. On April 15, the trading volume reached a peak of about 1200 tons, the highest level since 2019. In recent months, Chinese consumers and institutional investors have been rushing to buy physical gold bars, and the People's Bank of China has been buying frantically for 17 consecutive months. These two forces have driven the international gold price up.
Ross Norman, the current CEO of the precious metals trading daily Metals Daily and former trader at Credit Suisse, stated: "The only factor driving the rise in gold in a manner similar to Bitcoin is large-scale speculative behavior. Given the rise in interest rates and the strength of the US dollar, this is unlikely to come from hot money in the US, so the most likely buyers are highly leveraged Chinese investors."
John Reade, Chief Market Strategist at the World Gold Council, pointed out that despite the surge in trading volume at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, the number of outstanding contracts has hardly changed. This indicates that participants are only engaging in intraday trading rather than long-term trading. Last week, the international gold price underwent continuous adjustments, which Reade attributed to profit-taking by short-term investors on the exchange.
Renowned economist David Rosenberg released a report last Monday, predicting that the price of gold will reach $3000 per ounce, representing a potential upside of 29% from the current price level. He mentioned that 70% of the US reserves are in gold, and the People's Bank of China has significant room in the coming years to approach the global gold reserve benchmark