GuShiio.com ① On the afternoon of February 7, Bank of China issued a document on its official website stating that starting from February 10, it will increase the starting point of the bank’s accumulated funds to 700 yuan. This is also the first major state-owned bank to respond since gold hit a new high at the beginning of the year.② In addition to the entry of insurance funds into the market and the increase in the starting point of accumulated funds by Bank of China, there is still a lot of good news for gold in the near future. Yesterday, the central bank continued to increase its holdings of gold, achieving “three consecutive increases”.
Cailian News Agency, February 8 (Reporter Peng Kefeng)Although experts and scholars have been criticizing gold since last year, at least so far, the trend of gold has not disappointed investors.
On the afternoon of February 7, Bank of China issued a document on its official website stating that starting from February 10 (Note: next Monday, gold trading period), it will raise the starting point of the bank’s accumulated funds to 700 yuan. This is also the first major state-owned bank to respond since gold hit a new high at the beginning of the year.
The surge in gold prices affects banking business, Bank of China took the lead in raising the starting point of accumulated funds after the year
Yesterday, the State Financial Supervision and Administration issued the “Notice on Carrying out the Pilot Project of Insurance Funds Investment in Gold Business.” The State Administration proposed that pilot insurance companies can carry out pilot investment in gold business for the purpose of medium-and long-term asset allocation. The scope of pilot investment in gold includes spot gold contracts listed or traded on the main board of the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
This means that insurance funds are expected to enter the gold investment market. But in fact, before insurance companies intervened, banks were the main force in gold investment in the financial industry.
Also yesterday, Bank of China issued an announcement on its official website on adjusting the starting point for purchasing accumulated funds products based on the amount. In the announcement, Bank of China stated that in accordance with the People’s Bank of China’s Interim Measures for the Management of Gold Accumulation Business and other regulations, and with reference to current market conditions, it will adjust the purchase conditions for accumulated gold products starting from February 10, 2025.
The specific adjustments of Bank of China are as follows: When purchasing accumulated fund products according to the amount or creating an accumulated fixed investment plan, the minimum purchase amount is adjusted from 650 yuan to 700 yuan, and the additional purchase amount remains unchanged at an integer multiple of 200 yuan. Fixed investment plans that are already under implementation will not be affected.
“International gold prices have been soaring, driving Shanghai gold prices to rise. Banks have also had to passively adjust and raise the starting threshold for accumulated gold. This is related to the smallest investment unit of gold (grams).” A macro analyst at a brokerage firm who has been tracking the trend of gold for a long time told a reporter from the Financial Union that banks ‘accumulated funds business are generally linked to the Shanghai Financial Exchange.
It is worth noting that since gold rose by more than 25% last year, many large banks such as Bank of China and ICBC had to adjust the starting point of their accumulated funds twice in the first and second half of last year. If international gold prices continue to rise this year, banks may continue to raise their starting points this year.
Insurance funds entered the market, and the central bank had “three consecutive increases”, but institutions have diverged in the trend of short-term gold
The reporter from the Financial News Agency noticed that in addition to the entry of insurance funds into the market and the Bank of China raising the starting point for accumulated funds, there is still a lot of good news for gold in the near future.
Yesterday, China’s central bank released the latest data. China’s gold reserves at the end of January were 73.45 million ounces, the third consecutive month that it increased its holdings of gold. At the end of December last year, the central bank’s gold reserves were 73.29 million ounces, compared with 72.96 million ounces at the end of November.
In addition, according to statistics released by China Gold Association at the end of January, the People’s Bank of China will increase its holdings of gold by 44.17 tons throughout the year in 2024. As of the end of last year, China’s gold reserves were 2,279.57 tons, ranking sixth in the world.
The above macro analysts believe that the central bank’s “three consecutive increases” in gold are expected. According to common sense, once the central bank begins to return to the “road of purchasing gold”, if there are no unexpected factors, it will not be possible to stop in the short term. Referring to the proportion of gold assets in China’s central bank’s foreign exchange reserves, the central bank should still have the incentive to purchase gold within an appropriate time in the future.
“When Trump’s New Deal comes to power, market risk aversion has increased.” On February 7, China Gold Futures commented on the recent gold trend in a relevant report. In the domestic gold consumer market, gold prices have recently maintained their upward trend during the Spring Festival. On February 7, the price of Chow Tai Seng Gold 999 and Chow Tai Fook Gold jewelry was both 869 yuan/gram.
However, a reporter from the Financial News Agency noted that many institutions have recently been bearish on the short-term gold trend. For example, on the morning of February 8, Industrial Research pointed out in a public report that in the short term, gold valuation and technical indicators were overbought. When the quarterly rolling increase in gold prices reaches 10, 15, and 20%, there is usually a break.
