Cailian News Agency, February 19 (Reporter Shi Sitong) During the Spring Festival, the continuous decline of international gold prices did not seem to affect the popularity of domestic gold sales. Especially when the Spring Festival is superimposed on Valentine’s Day, consumers who come to buy gold are "crowding out" major gold sales stores. However, the Cailian reporter noticed that while consumers are buying gold crazily, some people are quietly selling gold and leaving.
"The Spring Festival is the most favorable time of the year, and there are many customers who come to buy gold. A few days ago, we were so busy that we didn’t even have time to introduce it. All the customers looked at it themselves and bought it directly. " A salesperson in a gold shop said with emotion. At the same time, she also revealed that in addition to people who are constantly buying gold, some customers want to take advantage of the current high price to sell the gold bought at a low price in previous years, thus earning some difference.
In the eyes of the industry, with the increase of consumers’ willingness to save and the continuous reduction of deposit interest rates, gold, which has long been regarded as a means of maintaining value and its price is rising, has attracted more and more attention and gradually become the best choice integrating consumption and investment. Although the gold market may fluctuate within a certain price range in the short term, in the long run, the expectation of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and geopolitical risks will still support the gold price, and the trend of strong gold will continue this year.
"Double Festival" drives gold fever, and gold bars become a new choice for young people to prepare for marriage.
The reporter from Cailian News Agency visited many gold shops in Beijing and found that during the Spring Festival, major gold shops have launched various preferential activities such as "100-gram reduction", "80-gram reduction" and 15% discount on one-price gold ornaments, and launched a series of gold ornaments and gold bars with the theme of dragons, which are favored by consumers. At the same time, in addition to the traditional gold jewelry selling well, investing in gold bars has also become a new choice for young people to prepare for marriage.
"These two days are not very busy, and customers are scattered." The counter sales of a gold shop in Chaoyang District, Beijing told the Cailian reporter that many young people with wedding plans this year took advantage of the Spring Festival activities to buy "three golds", and many people came to buy New Year gifts and Valentine’s Day gifts. However, after "Valentine’s Day on February 14th", the number of consumers who come to the store to buy gold has obviously decreased.
According to the above sales introduction, this year’s Spring Festival holiday is superimposed on Valentine’s Day, and gold sales are particularly hot. Judging from the sales situation of this store, in addition to traditional gold jewelry, dragon-themed series products are also very popular with consumers. At the same time, the Year of the Loong gold bars have also become a hot-selling product during the Spring Festival this year.
The reporter of Cailian noticed that there were many rows of gold bars in the counter of the store, with the weight ranging from 20g to 100g, and the patterns on the gold bars were mostly dragons. "Our gold bars are well stocked, because there are quite a few people who come to buy gold bars recently, and they can sell several sets a day." According to the sales, most consumers mainly buy gold bars for collection, gifts or children. However, with the change of young people’s consumption concept, new people are gradually buying gold bars to replace the "three golds" for marriage.
"The one we bought is 100g, which is for getting married this year. Because I don’t like gold ornaments very much, we discussed buying a gold bar, so we didn’t buy three gold ones. And relatively speaking, this kind of investment gold bar is also more valuable. " Ms. Yang, a couple who are shopping for gold bars, told Cailian that they plan to get engaged this Lantern Festival, taking advantage of the gold shop promotion activities during the Spring Festival, just to prepare the three gold needed for marriage. However, considering personal preference and value preservation, the two decided to replace the traditional three gold bars with gold bars.
From the price point of view, the current price of gold jewelry in the store is 621 yuan per gram, and most styles in the store participate in the activity of "reducing 30 yuan"; The price of investment gold bars is 551 yuan per gram, which is at least cheaper than that of 40 yuan. At the same time, the store also provides recycling service, but compared with the selling price, the current recycling price of gold bars is much lower, only 458 yuan per gram.
"The investment value of gold lies more in the future. It is definitely a loss to recycle the gold bought now. It is necessary to lengthen the timeline and see the price of gold for several years." In the sales mouth of online stores, "the price of gold has been rising, and it will be higher if you don’t buy it now" has become a common saying.
The international gold price has fallen sharply, and the industry is generally bullish on the future gold trend.
In recent years, with the sustained recovery of domestic economy, domestic gold consumption has been warming up. According to the data of the World Gold Council, in 2023, although the domestic gold price soared by 17%, the total demand for gold ornaments in China still reached 630 tons, a year-on-year increase of 10%. Due to the soaring price of RMB gold, the domestic consumption of gold ornaments reached 282 billion yuan in 2023, a record high.
The higher the price of gold, the more it is bought, which is the mentality of most gold consumers, but at the same time, some people see the risks behind chasing up and choose to sell gold and leave. A counter salesman in a store told Cailian that although many people bought gold during the Spring Festival, they also bought old gold ornaments and bars for styles and recycling. "Some time ago, a client of my colleague sold the gold jewelry he bought a few years ago. Before that, he bought more than 300 pieces, totaling nearly 50 grams, and now he has earned almost 7,000 pieces."
In fact, during the Spring Festival holiday, the international gold price has continued to fall. According to the data of Jintou. com, the price of $2,052/ounce opened on February 7 has been falling for six consecutive trading days, and it hit $1,996/ounce on February 14, with a cumulative decline of 2.29%. As of February 19th, COMEX gold futures reported $2,029 per ounce.
So, what will be the future trend of gold prices? Is it still the time to start gold? This is a concern of many investors and consumers. In this regard, many people in the industry and institutions generally believe that the trend of strong gold will continue this year and the price of gold will continue to be bullish in the future.
"As a traditional safe-haven asset, the value of gold will not disappear due to short-term market fluctuations. On the contrary, in the context of increasing global economic uncertainty, the safe-haven nature of gold is more prominent. " According to UBS Wealth, although the gold market may fluctuate within a certain price range in the short term, in the long run, the Fed’s interest rate cut policy is expected to promote the strong demand of gold exchange traded funds (ETFs), thus supporting the gold price. At the same time, UBS suggested that investors can consider buying gold at a price of $2,000/ounce or less.
Shanghai Dongzheng Futures also said in the latest report that in the short term, the gold price may fall below the $2,000/oz mark due to the delay of the Fed’s interest rate cut expectations, and it is still necessary to pay attention to the callback risk. However, in the medium and long term, geopolitical risks still limit the callback space of gold prices, and the bullish view remains unchanged.
As for the individual purchase of gold, Wang Lixin, CEO of China District of the World Gold Council, suggested that if it is purely for investment purposes, it is a major principle to buy investment gold bars, and the closer the buying and selling price is to the price of gold raw materials, the better. Secondly, it should be purchased through formal commercial organizations and large retail organizations, and don’t go to some informal platforms for the sake of cheapness.
"Gold is an important part of asset allocation for both institutional investors and individuals. However, the price of investment products must fluctuate, and there are also risks in the gold market. In the current gold fever, investors should still buy carefully. " Wang Lixin reminded.
(Cailian reporter Shi Sitong)