Gold jewelry stocks experienced a collective downturn. As of writing, ZHOU LIU FU fell 4.7% to HK$17.83, LUK FOOK HOLD dropped 4.35% to HK$21.56, CHOW SANG SANG declined 4.34% to HK$11.24, and CHOW TAI FOOK was down 2.34% to HK$10.83. The decline follows a drop in international gold prices on May 18, which briefly fell below the $4,500 per ounce mark, hitting a new low since April. Consequently, the per-gram price for domestic brand gold jewelry fell below 1,400 yuan overnight, representing a significant drop of 300 yuan from the high of 1,700 yuan per gram seen in January. Furthermore, the World Gold Council notes that the second quarter is traditionally a slow season for gold jewelry consumption, suggesting demand may weaken further. Cinda Securities points out that gold jewelry is fundamentally a consumer good rather than an investment product, making it difficult to escape the basic framework of higher prices leading to lower volume. Excessively high gold prices generally lead to a wait-and-see attitude among end consumers. The scissors gap between the weight growth rates of gold jewelry and investment gold consumption has continued to widen since 2024, indicating a significant divergence between consumer demand and investment demand. In the first quarter of 2024, the weight growth rate for investment gold consumption in the industry accelerated significantly, while gold jewelry continued to show a trend of higher prices but lower volume.
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