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View: Commodity Information Market Times & Information
Current New York Time:
Nov 20th, 2008 08:59 am EST
Current New York Time:
Nov 20th, 2008 08:59 am EST
Past Analytics:
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Gold Consumption Information
Jewelry is consistently the primary consumer of annual gold production. For example, it accounted for 78% of the demand for gold, typical of any given year. The demand for gold jewelry, however, is not homogenous across the world; some countries and cultures place more value upon it than others do. According to the World Gold Council, worldwide gold demand is broken down into twelve ‘key’ markets. The largest key market consumer of gold is India at 815 metric tons in 1998, followed by the US at 428.4 metric tons.
In terms of volume, gold jewelry markets in the US are dominated by department stores (i.e. K-mart, Wal-mart, Macy’s), discount chains (i.e. Costco, Federated Merchandising), and electronic market retailers (i.e. QVC, Home Shopping Network). These outlets move approximately 70%. The remaining portion is sold through high-end retailers (i.e. Neiman Marcus, Tiffany’s) and small, independent outlets. People spending US$200-$300, a “small-to-large purchase” as classified by the industry, consume the majority of gold in the US. In terms of money, however, the high-end markets control the largest proportion of total spending on jewelry. In 1998, this total reached US$40 billion, with the high-end markets bringing in US$23 billion of that.
Americans purchase gold for the same reasons as people in other parts of the world—its value, more or less, as a status symbol. Gold is a means, particularly among women, for exhibiting wealth, often regardless of one’s actual financial background. In a random survey of 1000 consumers, the Taylor Nelson Sofres Intersearch research firm found that more than a third of the participants had purchased gold jewelry in the final quarter of 2006 towards Christmas, a gifting holiday. Women between the ages of 18 and 45 accounted for most of the purchases.
Consumption Facts
- Americans purchased 428.4 metric tons of gold in 1998—an 18% increase over 1997, and the highest increase ever.
- In 1999, US gold consumption is expected to increase at least 6% over 1998 figures.
- Although American women between 18-45 purchase the largest volume of jewelry, consumers between 45-54 spend the most money on jewelry.
- In fiscal year 1998-1999, India spent US$7 billion to import gold, the second largest import next to oil.
- It is estimated that India’s unofficial stock of gold, tucked away in private hands such as households, amounts to 10,000 tons, or about US$132.75 billion worth of gold.
- Indians also use gold as religious offerings: in the year 1997-1998, 70lbs of primary gold, 414lbs of gold ornaments, 15lbs of gold articles, 79lbs of gold jewelry, 372lbs of gold on copper, and 4.4lbs of gold studded with diamonds were offered to the Gods.
Gold Commodity Information
Perhaps no other market in the world has the universal appeal of the gold market. For centuries, gold has been coveted for its unique blend of rarity, beauty, and near indestructibility. Nations have embraced gold as a store of wealth and a medium of international exchange; individuals have sought to possess gold as insurance against the day-to-day uncertainties of paper money.
Gold futures contracts are also valuable trading tools for commercial producers and users of the metal. Commercial concentrations of gold are found in widely distributed areas: in association with ores of copper and lead, in quartz veins, in the gravel of stream beds, and with pyrites (iron sulfide). Seawater contains astonishing quantities of gold, but its recovery is not economical.
Today, the principal gold producing countries include South Africa, the United States, Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, and Russia.
The United States first assigned a formal monetary role for gold in 1792, when Congress put the nation's currency on a bimetallic standard, backing it with gold and silver.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, most nations were forced to sever their currency from gold in an attempt to stabilize their economies.
Gold formally reentered the world's monetary system in 1944, when the Bretton Woods agreement fixed all the world's paper currencies in relation to the U.S. dollar which in turn was tied to gold. The agreement was in force until 1971, when President Nixon effectively cancelled it by ending the convertibility of the dollar into gold.
Today, gold prices float freely in accordance with supply and demand, responding quickly to political and economic events.
Gold is a vital industrial commodity. It is an excellent conductor of electricity, is extremely resistant to corrosion, and is one of the most chemically stable of the elements, making it critically important in electronics and other high-tech applications.
Furthermore, gold has traditionally had a role in investment strategies, and gold futures and options can be found in investors' portfolios.
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New York Market
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Market hours (local time)
8:20 AM - 1:30 PM.
New York Futures Division gold futures and options are two ways of trading gold in
New York. They provide an important alternative to traditional means of
investing in gold such as bullion, coins, and mining stocks.
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New York
ACCESS MARKET®
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Market hours (local time)
2:00 PM - 8:00 AM Mon-Thu
7:00 PM - 8:00 AM Sun.
After-hours futures trading is conducted via the NYMEX ACCESS electronic
trading system beginning at 2:00 PM on Mondays through Thursdays and concluding
at 8:00 AM the following day. On Sunday, the electronic session begins
at 7:00 PM. All times are New York time.
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London
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Market hours (local time)
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM, with Fixing at 10:30 AM and 3:00 PM.
The metal prices fixed twice a day here, known as London Fixes, are the
guidepost for the official gold trading around the world.
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Zurich
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Market hours (local time)
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
The core is the mutual settlement(gold pool) of the three biggest banks
in Switzerland.
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Hong Kong
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Market hours (local time)
8:30 AM - 12:30 PM
2:30 PM - 5:30 PM.
Hong Kong is center of gold trading in the Far East and the Southeastern
Asia.
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Sydney
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Market hours (local time)
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM.
Australia's geographical location is a natural place to maintain the continuity
of the spot gold market after New York traders go home and before the
Asian traders wake up. Sydney opens up shortly after the NY market closes
and overlaps the Hong Kong market.
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Disclaimer: The real-time NYMEX data is restricted information and is only provided as a courtesy.
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