Today's gold market is a round-the-world, round-the-clock business, played out
largely on dealers' trading screens. The core of the business, however, remains
in the key markets of London, as the great clearing
house, New York as the home of futures'
trading, Zurich as a physical turntable, Istanbul,
Dubai, Singapore and
Hong Kong as doorways to important consuming regions
and Tokyo where the Commodity Exchange (TOCOM)
sets the mood of Japan. Even Paris still has a small
market, a reminder of the days when the French were great hoarders, while Bombay
(Mumbai) has increasing importance under India's
liberalised gold regime that permits official imports through local markets.
These regional markets reflect the growing pattern of liberalisation of the gold
trade since the early 1990's. Until then, many countries either forbade the direct
import of gold, or imposed high import duties, so that smuggling was substantial
to countries such as Turkey or India. Today, however, relaxation has meant that
local markets and exchanges can flourish legitimately.
Gold reserves (Credit:
World Gold Council)
Consequently the pattern of gold flows from mine to end-user, whether in jewellery,
industry or investment, is more direct. This pattern has also been influenced
by growing gold production, particularly in Australia and the United States, which
are now major sources of supply for Asian markets.
While physical gold movements have changed, the huge expansion of futures and
options
trading has also given a quite new dimension to the gold market since the 1980's.
This section of GoldAvenue's encyclopaedia provides detailed briefings on the
main markets, together with explanations of futures and options trading, cross-referenced
to our detailed glossary of the terminology. The special situation of official
gold stocks held by central banks and the role
of leading central banks and monetary institutions is also covered with individual
entries on such key players as the Bank of England,
the Swiss National Bank and the Bank
for International Settlements. Our Markets
Library also recommends books on the gold trade and the role of gold.
Major revisions and
corporate operating results are updated annually with reviews of certain market
information and corporate information quarterly.