HardAssetsInvestor

Written by Adrian Ash  |

October 26, 2012

Adrian Ash: Big Jump In London Gold Trading

Details

Wholesale gold trading in London's global center just leapt toward summer 2011's records.

[This article initially appeared on BullionVault.com and is republished here with permission.]

Gold trading in London – heart of the world's wholesale bullion market – leapt in September.

How come? "The continued economic uncertainty in the Eurozone and US, the end of the holiday period and the start of the Indian festival season boosted clearing turnover," says trade body the London Bullion Market Association, releasing the new data to members on Thursday.

But matched by a sharp rise in the size of gold-backed trust funds traded on the stock market (ETFs), these latest figures really suggest strong interest from hedge funds, investment banks and other institutions around the US Federal Reserve's announcement of QE3, we believe.

Why QE3 as the catalyst? Because the so-called "smart money" had been hanging on Ben Bernanke's every word all year...willing him to make free and easy with his electronic printing press once again. And why that group? Because the other potential buyers just weren't so hot – buyers whose demand would have quickly registered back up the supply chain at the wholesale level – and certainly not hot enough to push gold trading through its world center in London to the third highest value on record.

Jewelry suppliers in India have kept a lid on their stockpiling, even ahead of the annual peak in demand due with Diwali in mid-November. Private households (aka "retail" investors) raised their demand in September, but not dramatically, as Bullion Vault's own Gold Investor Index shows. And amongst those central banks who declare their hand each month to the International Monetary Fund (i.e., everyone but China), September 2012 saw them pretty much flat overall as a group.

So you have to guess, therefore, that the so-called "smart money" was the big buyer, helping drive the daily value of gold bullion traded through London's 11 big market makers more than 35% higher in September from August to its highest level since summer 2011's all-time peaks.