Influenced by factors such as rising international crude oil prices, intensifying US inflation pressure and growing market expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates further, international gold prices fell to a one-year low on 30 October.
As of the latest close, COMEX gold futures dropped 3.63% to US$3,884.90 an ounce, while spot gold in London fell 3.61% to US$3,875.19 an ounce, with both falling below the US$3,900 mark.
Affected by the decline in international gold prices, domestic branded gold jewellery prices were lowered in tandem, and some brands' gold jewellery prices have retreated by nearly 550 yuan per gram from this year's high.
As gold prices moved lower, what changes appeared on the consumption and investment sides?
Beijing gold store foot traffic rises and gold investment heats up
Influenced by international gold prices, the prices of pure gold jewellery in many domestic gold stores were also lowered.
Analysts said that in recent period the sales growth of gold jewellery has been relatively obvious, especially small gold jewellery such as rings with a weight of around 5 grams, which are particularly popular.
Some consumers said they came to pick bracelets and ear studs for themselves and preferred novel styles and smaller pieces, while other consumers spent more than 2,000 yuan on gold jewellery featuring the zodiac goat.
Li Yang, a senior analyst at Beijing Caibai Gold, said that young people's consumption demand for gold jewellery currently accounts for about half of total sales, and they favour hard pure gold, ancient-method craftsmanship and products with enamel craftsmanship and cultural connotations.
During the peak wedding season, the sales proportion of "three golds", "five golds" and set products also rose noticeably.
△File photo
Analysts said that recently, affected by multiple global uncertainties, gold prices have fluctuated noticeably in the short term, and more investors have come to buy gold investment bar products.
At the Caibai mall, a consumer bought five gold bars, each 30 grams, with each bar costing about 26,000 yuan.
The consumer said that when gold prices are relatively low, they want to do some wealth management investment.
Wedding gold and new zodiac products are popular in the Shenzhen Shuibei market
With gold prices falling, wedding gold and new zodiac products have become the main sales drivers in the Shuibei gold market in Shenzhen, Guangdong.
Some consumers said they bought more than 60 grams of gold together with friends, while some people preparing for marriage said their wedding date is approaching and they happened to encounter a gold price decline, so they planned to buy dozens of grams.
The drop in gold prices stimulated consumer enthusiasm, and the sales of gold jewellery in many stores showed obvious growth.
Cai Xuling, head of a gold jewellery retail store in the Shuibei market, said that before she even woke up each day, customers wanted to buy chunky gold bracelets, favouring higher gram weights, and sales doubled compared with last month.
△File photo
During visits, reporters learned that with the year-end wedding season approaching, the fall in gold prices has driven wedding-related gold jewellery consumption to heat up, and many consumers with wedding demand came to buy while prices pulled back.
Lin Li, head of another gold jewellery retail store in the Shuibei market, said that this month gold prices came down, and compared with last month overall sales grew by 30% to 40%, with people basically buying "three golds" and "five golds".
In addition to wedding gold, zodiac-themed gold jewellery started warming up early, and goat-themed gold jewellery has already been launched in a concentrated way.
According to feedback from Lin Yinzhu, head of the retail store of Shuibei Chaorunfu Jewelry in Shenzhen, Guangdong, after October the sales proportion of goat zodiac gold jewellery climbed rapidly, already surpassing the old horse zodiac jewellery and accounting for half of the store's sales in related categories, winning the favour of a large number of consumers in advance.
Spot silver prices have fallen more than 50% during the year
Not only gold: as of 29 October, spot silver, which set an intraday historical high of US$121.79 an ounce at the start of the year, has now fallen to around US$53 an ounce.
From the end of January to now, spot silver prices have dropped more than 50%, which has also attracted many consumers to buy silver jewellery and investment silver bars.
△Video from the CCTV Finance "Economic Information Broadcast" programme on 30 October
Sina partners with major platforms for futures account opening, safe, fast and guaranteed.
Comments