Bargain buying creates robust US demand for gold

The stock market crash this summer drove US investors towards safe haven investment. The US investors started buying gold bars and coins in the wake of August meltdown.

The demand for gold bars and coins shot up 207 percent in the third quarter and this is the highest growth rate since the global financial crisis. Mainly two factors -- relatively lower price of yellow metal and meltdown of financial markets-- added to the most of the demand for gold.

The S&P-500 index recovered 10 percent from the low on 24 August 2015, while gold price down six percent during the same period. Registering highest demand growth since the global financial crisis in 2008, according to World Gold Council (WGC), the buying activity in gold bars and coins rose 207 percent during the third quarter. 

In a CNN report, the US Mint said that gold Eagle coin sales rose to 400,000 ounces in the third quarter and this is highest level in the past five years. The unexpected August 2015 market mayhem since the financial crisis of 2008 made investors worry about the returns on their investments. The market fall coupled with attractive gold prices are major reasons for the renewed demand for the yellow metal.  

Gold price slipped below $1,000 an ounce for the first time in the past five years. Naturally, majority of US investors shifted focus to the yellow metal. Bob Alderman, Head of Global Wealth Management at Gold Bullion International, said: "People were bargain shopping. There's no question about it."

It's estimated that demand for gold up over 40 percent in Canada and Mexico as revealed by USA Gold. Here a question arises as why gold price is low when demand is robust? Market analysts say that there's selling in paper gold products such as ETPs and futures. Price discovery generally takes place in paper market. When paper products drive the price down, physical buyers tend to take advantage. 

The Dow Jones index tumbled 1,000 points on August 24 and this further indicated the severity of concerns among investors. Market analysts also termed it as first correction since 2011 for S&P-500 index. Equity analysts said it was directly correlated to turmoil in August. 

Generally, whenever the financial markets don't perform well, then preferred choice would be gold according to Malaysia Chronicle. China's economy slowdown, unexpected devaluation of Yuan, slump in commodity markets, etc, had created tremors in the global financial markets. 

For US economy, September was encouraging month as it registered job growth indicating creation of 271,000 new jobs during the month.