It's a mad gold rush all over again as investors head to buy

Updated: Friday, April 19, 2013, 12:39 [IST]

"People are running through the gate," the Sydney Morning Herald reported after Gold Sales from Perth Mint hit unprecedented levels after a decline of 20 per cent in gold prices.

Bloomberg TV in India showed a very interesting report on a mad scramble at a gold shop, where there was frenzied buying and a mad rush to buy physical gold, as prices have dropped 20 per cent since the beginning of the year.

The Sydney Morning Herald had this to report, "Gold sales from Perth Mint, which refines nearly all of the nation's bullion, have surged after prices plunged, adding to signs that the metal's slump to a two-year low is spurring increased demand.

"The volume of business that we're putting through is way in excess of double what we did last week," Treasurer Nigel Moffatt said, without giving precise figures. "There's been people running through the gate."

Chow Sang Sang's gold-jewellery sales increased 50 per cent last weekend from the weekend before after prices slumped on April 12, Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily reported, citing Lau Hak-bun, the company's sales director.

Bloomberg has reported that Gold buyers in India, the world's biggest consumer, are flocking to stores to buy jewelry and coins, betting a selloff that plunged bullion to a two-year low may be overdone.

"My daughter is just six months old, but I think it is never too early to buy gold," said Sharmila Shirodkar, a 28- year-old housewife, while displaying a new pair of earrings she bought from a store in Mumbai's Zaveri Bazaar. "I had been asking my husband every day if prices will go down more. I couldn't wait anymore," the Bloomberg report read.

The Age reported that Japanese individual investors doubled gold purchases yesterday at Tokuriki Honten, the country's second-largest retailer of the precious metal.

Clearly, there are many investors and individuals who continue remain bullish on gold. The safe haven tag of gold it seems remains intact, despite the drop in prices by 20 per cent. So much so for skeptics who think gold is no longer precious.

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