Demand for gold jewellery in the UK falls: World Gold Council
Demand for gold has decreased in Europe, according to the World Gold Council (WGC). The demand is particularly down in the UK where demand fell 10% to a three-year low of 3.8t. The council released its gold trend for Q2 2017 and reported a 4% fall in demand for gold jewellery across Europe. Globally, the demand for gold jewellery was 480.8t which was 8% higher year-on-year. In some parts, global gold demand in Q2 2017 fell 10% compared with the same period in 2016.
On UK, it reported an anaemic demand for gold jewellery because of continuing uncertainties over brexit. Although, the report said the present downtrend may come to an end and there may be even growth in the market in the second half of the year.
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Alistair Hewitt, head of market intelligence at the World Gold Council, comments:
“Demand for H1 2017 was down 14% compared to last year, but in some respects the market was in better shape. Last year’s growth was solely down to record ETF inflows, while consumer demand slumped. So far this year we have seen steady ETF inflows in Europe and the US, jewellery demand has recovered with good growth in India, while retail investment and technology demand is up too.
“There are a few things to watch out for in the rest of the year. Inflation data out of the US looks soft and markets have pushed out their expectations for a rate rise. The monsoon is looking good in India and, providing the market adapts to the new GST, we may see solid demand around Diwali. And as the next generation of smartphones gets rolled out we may see good support for technology demand.”
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