"Sixty-thousand or seventy thousand yuan is no longer a big deal. Some customers bought gold jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of yuan in one go. Since New Year's Day, our gold sales have increased by more than 30% year-on-year." Dai Chongye, business department manager of Guangzhou Dongshan Department Store When talking about recent gold consumption, he bluntly said that “the market is hot” and citizens are enthusiastic about buying gold.
Since the beginning of 2024, international gold prices have continued to be high. According to analysts, the recent resurgence of "gold buying" is partly due to holiday factors; on the other hand, fluctuations in other investment markets have made investors tend to choose safe-haven assets such as gold. It is expected that the price of gold will continue to rise in the future. Stay high.
The gold market continues to heat up
Gold, the zodiac sign of the Year of the Dragon, is favored by consumers
"There are many people getting married before the holiday this year, and Valentine's Day falls during the Spring Festival, so many consumers come to buy goods and prepare in advance." Dai Chongye said that the gold counter of the mall has sold a lot of large orders of gold jewelry and gold bars since the new year. In order to better welcome consumption nodes such as the Spring Festival, Valentine's Day, and Women's Day, shopping malls have begun to increase discounts and promotions, launching activities such as "Gold Jewelry with a 50-yuan discount per gram" to attract more consumers. .
"We sell very well this golden pig jar for storing gold beans. It is now popular among young people to save small grams of gold beans. This golden pig jar can put hundreds of golden beans." said a staff member of Dongbai Shopping Mall. , In addition, the Lunar Year of the Dragon is coming, and the sales of zodiac dragon gold jewelry are also very hot.
"Some young people will use golden beans as pocket money to save, and the little they accumulate will make a lot of money." Zhou Maohua, an analyst at the Financial Market Department of Everbright Bank, said that saving golden beans is favored by young people because this behavior can, to a certain extent, Play the role of forced savings. At the same time, gold beans in small grams have lowered the threshold for gold purchase, and merchants have also taken advantage of this opportunity to broaden sales channels and enrich sales scenarios.
Guosen Securities pointed out that the trend of the gold and jewelry industry in the past few years has benefited from the demand for gold purchases at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. The overall gold and jewelry sector has increased to a certain extent before and after the Lunar New Year. The Spring Festival holiday in 2024 will be longer and later than last year, so the consumer gold purchase cycle is expected to be lengthened again.
In addition to over-the-counter sales in shopping malls, reporters have noticed that many commercial banks have also stepped up their efforts in the gold business, launching precious metal products such as Year of the Dragon gold bars, gold coins, and gold medals. Since gold has the characteristics of excellent long-term returns, adding gold to the investment portfolio has become a new choice for many financial products.
Gold prices are expected to remain high
Experts advise to be wary of large price fluctuations
Gold is one of the most outstanding assets in the investment field in 2023. Data released by the World Gold Council shows that total global gold demand rose to 4,899 tons in 2023, setting a new record. The average gold price in 2023 will reach US$1,940.54 per ounce, an increase of 8% from the previous year.
"Recently, the international gold price has been hovering around 2,030 US dollars/ounce, and the domestic gold price has been consolidating around 480 yuan/gram." Regarding the reasons for the recent increase in gold consumption and investment, Zhu Zhigang, vice president and chief analyst of the Guangdong Gold Association, analyzed that the current global geopolitical Political conflicts are still ongoing, and developed economies such as the United States have shown their intention to gradually cut interest rates, which has provided certain support for gold prices. In addition, the central bank continues to increase the size of its gold reserves, which has also boosted market enthusiasm for gold purchases.
Since 2023, global demand for gold purchases has continued to be strong, and central banks of various countries have shown clear signs of actively increasing their gold reserves. Data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on February 7 showed that gold reserves in January 2024 were 72.19 million ounces, an increase of 320,000 ounces from 71.87 million ounces in December last year. my country’s central bank has increased its gold holdings for 15 consecutive months.
Many A-share gold stocks that have recently disclosed performance forecasts for the previous year have generally increased their performance forecasts. Shandong Gold recently disclosed that it expects to achieve a total profit of 3.1 billion to 3.8 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 54.51% to 89.4%; CICC Gold also announced that its net profit is expected to increase by 31.01% to 57.21% year-on-year in 2023.
Will gold prices continue to remain high in 2024? UBS Group predicts that the price of gold will reach $2,200 per ounce in 2024. Galaxy Securities pointed out that the Fed's interest rate cut failed in the short term but is more clear in the medium term. From the perspective of 2024, it is more clear that the Fed will start an interest rate cut cycle. The continued decline in nominal interest rates and real interest rates guided by multiple interest rate cuts will support the price of gold. of rise.
Zhu Zhigang predicts that gold prices are expected to continue to rise in 2024. He also suggested that investors should remain rational. "The price of gold is hovering at high levels, especially during the Spring Festival holiday. The risk may increase, or there may be sharp rises and falls. In order to beware of rising prices and falling, it is recommended to control your positions and not blindly chase the rise." To sell down, we should adopt an investment strategy of buying in small quantities and in batches based on the actual market conditions.”
Nanfang Daily reporter Zhou Meilin