Gold stocks
According to Tyler Durden, writing in Zero Hedge, analysis suggests that China is buying almost 1,000 tons of gold a year and is well on the way to achieving the target admitted by a State Council adviser in December 2009 of 6,000 tons in foreign reserves within three to five years, and perhaps 8,000 to 10,000 in eight to ten years.
China may already be the second largest official holder of gold in the world, surpassing Germany’s 3,395 tons and second only to the US… well on the way to topping America’s 8,133 tons. The European Central Bank has only 502 tons (although individual Eurozone member-nations, in combination, have far more than that, of course – about 10,000 tons).
Research consultancy Thomson Reuters GFMS, says official buying is a key factor driving demand. It reached 270 tons in the first half, “chiefly as a result of an ongoing desire to diversify foreign reserves away from the US dollar.”
Total investment demand for the metal in the current half-year is forecast to reach new records on volume terms (more than 970 tons) and value (about $53 billion).
CopyRight – OnTarget 2012 by Martin Spring
