Gold - The Most Popular Asset Class in Asia

Gold and cash are The Most Popular Asset Class in Asia , Chris Gill, General Manager at Friends Provident International says gold is the most preferred asset among investors in Hong Kong, Singapore and UAE.



Related ETFs : Ishares Silver ETF (SLV), SPDR GOld ETF (GLD) SPDR GOld ETF (GLD), Powershares DB SPDR Gold ETF (GLD), Newmont Mining (NEM), Barrick Gold (ABX), GoldCorp (GG)

The demand for gold in Asia reached a record high in first quarter 2011

Asians immense passion for gold continues to grow , China's Gold Imports Soaring almost a fivefold : Under the impetus of a persistent inflation in China and concern for maintaining its currency, the demand for gold in the Asian continent continues to be increasing and reached a record high in first quarter 2011.In this context, the 'new rich' and households with higher incomes in both China and India are turning increasingly to the precious metal as a way to diversify their investments.Just in the month of January, the Commercial Bank of China, a major financial institution in the country, has sold a total of 7 tons of gold bullion, which equates to around half of all sales transactions recorded by the bank over the year 2010. One reason for this growing demand for gold in China is still higher prices, which rose 4.9% in January compared to the same month last year. While analysts expected a higher figure, close to 5.3%, concern about inflationary pressures on the huge Asian continent could lead the Central Bank to review interest rates on the rise.Bank of China has been actively promoting gold and silver products for years. Silver & Gold Pandas can be purchased once again by special order but to my knowledge can no longer be purchased on-site at the bank. Prices for Silver Pandas have increased from about 160RMB a year ago to now about 240 - 270 RMB per coin. The price varies by dealer. One thing is for certain, demand is sure there. Prices will only increase. We are just getting started in the greatest bull run for precious metals in history! and Asia is the biggest player in this bull market

Asia is driving the demand for gold

In 2011 China's investment in gold could rise by 40-50 per cent

The gold market is increasingly being dominated by China. Beijing, which in 2007 surpassed South Africa as the world leader in gold mining production in the last ten years has almost tripled the demand for gold to around 600 tonnes in 2010 a record year also globally, with a total demand that peaked decades of 3812.2 tons (+9%), driven by the jewelry, in recovery of 17% to 2,059.6 tons.
The statistics of the World Gold Council (WGC), published recently in Gold Demand Trends report, show that China's demand has become very explosive especially in investment, in other countries after the boom of 2009 there was a setback (the overall figure shows a decrease of 2% to 1,333.1 tons, a decrease by as much as 45% for ETFs), while the People's Republic of fear of inflation combined with the lack of alternative investment has produced a real own gold rush. The Chinese have bought 179.9 tons. bars, ingots and coins, 70% more than in 2009, surpassing the United States and Germany. In 2011 China's investment in gold could rise another 40-50 per cent.

China, nevertheless, is still far from being able to oust India from the podium of the first consumer of the yellow metal. The impressive recovery in demand in New Delhi makes this objective even harder for China : +66% in 2010 to 963.1 tons, almost everything related to jewelry.

The gold in 2010 reached a record $ 1,432.50 per ounce in December. After starting the year down in recent days - especially supported by the unrest in the Middle East - is above $ 1,380 / oz. "It seems that consumers, especially the larger ones, namely India and China, have become accustomed to higher prices . The high prices seem to even have provided an extra motivation to buy gold, described as an investment asset quality. "