One of the characteristics of London gold market is that the trading system is quite special, because there is no actual trading place in London, and its trading is completed through an invisible way-the sales contact network of major gold merchants. The members of the exchange are composed of five authoritative gold merchants and some companies or shops that are recognized as qualified to buy gold from the five gold merchants, and then are composed of various processing factories, small and medium-sized shops and companies. At the time of trading, gold merchants quote their buying and selling prices according to their respective buying and selling prices.
The second characteristic of trading on the London Stock Exchange is its flexibility. The purity and weight of gold can be selected. If customers demand to sell in distant areas, gold merchants will also quote freight and premium, and can also quote futures prices according to customers' requirements. The most popular way to buy and sell Loco-London gold is that customers can buy gold spot without paying cash, and only need to pay at the agreed interest rate at maturity, but at this time, customers can't get physical gold. This way of buying and selling gold is just to play a number game on the accounting account until the customer performs the opposite operation to close the position.
The standard gold delivered in London Gold Market has a purity of 99.5% and a weight of 400 ounces.
There are also some defects in the special trading system of London gold market.
First of all, because the prices of various gold business newspapers are real prices, sometimes the market price of gold is chaotic, and even gold merchants don't know which price is reasonable, so they have to stop quoting, and the trading of London gold will stop;
Second, customers in the London market are absolutely confidential, so there is no effective statistics on gold trading positions. Zurich gold market developed after World War II, while London gold market closed down twice. The price of gold in Zurich market is as important as that in London.
The gold market in Zurich has no formal organizational structure, but the three major Swiss banks: UBS, Credit Suisse and UBS are responsible for clearing and settlement. The three major banks not only do customer transactions, but also do gold transactions. Zurich Golden Pool was established on the basis of informal consultations among the three major Swiss banks and is not under the jurisdiction of the government. As a mixture of dealers and clearing systems, Zurich gold pool plays an intermediary role in the market.
Switzerland's special banking system and auxiliary gold trading service system provide a free and confidential environment for gold trading. In addition, Switzerland and South Africa also have preferential agreements. 80% of South Africa's gold is obtained here, and the gold of the former Soviet Union is also gathered here, making Switzerland not only the world's largest new gold transit station, but also the world's largest private gold storage center. Zurich gold market is second only to London in the international gold market.
There is no gold pricing system in Zurich gold market. At any specific time of each trading day, the gold price of the day is agreed according to the supply and demand situation, and this price is the official price of Zurich gold. On this basis, there is no daily limit for the fluctuation of gold prices throughout the day. Standard gold is 400 ounces of 99.5% pure gold. The gold markets in new york and Chicago developed in the mid-1970s. The main reason is that after 1977, the dollar depreciated, and Americans (mainly corporate bodies) made profits by hedging and investment appreciation, which made gold futures develop rapidly.
At present, the New York Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (IMM) are not only the gold futures trading centers in the United States, but also the largest gold futures trading centers in the world. The two major exchanges have a great influence on the price of gold in the spot gold market.
Take the New York Mercantile Exchange as an example, the exchange itself does not participate in futures trading, but only provides places and facilities for traders, and has formulated COMEX laws and regulations to ensure that both parties to the transaction conduct transactions under the premise of fairness and reasonableness. The institute has a very detailed and complicated description of the weight, fineness, shape, upper and lower limits of price fluctuation, trading date and trading time of gold traded in spot and futures.
Moreover, because the US Treasury Department and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also auction gold in new york, the New York gold market has become the largest and most active gold futures market in the world. The US gold market mainly trades gold futures, and the futures contracts signed by it can last for 23 months. The trading volume in the gold market is 65,438+000 ounces, the target of the transaction is 99.5% pure gold, and the price is USD. Hong Kong gold market has a history of more than 90 years, and its formation is marked by the establishment of chinese gold and silver exchange society. From 65438 to 0974, the Hong Kong government lifted the control on the import and export of gold, and the gold market in Hong Kong has developed rapidly since then. As the time difference of Hong Kong gold market just fills the gap between the closing of new york and Chicago and the opening of London, it can connect Asia, Europe and the United States to form a complete world gold market. Its superior geographical conditions have attracted the attention of European gold merchants, and five big gold merchants in London and three big banks in Switzerland have set up branches in Hong Kong. They brought the gold trading activities settled in London to Hong Kong, and gradually formed an invisible local "London gold market", making Hong Kong one of the major gold markets in the world.
At present, Hong Kong has three gold markets:
First, China investors have advantages and fixed trading places. Gold is priced at HK$ /2 and the standard gold purity for delivery is 99%. The main gold trading specification is 99 standard gold bars with five Sima. At present, the traditional spot trading method of open bidding and gesture trading is still adopted, and there is no gold and silver trading market that reflects the real-time market through computer network.
Secondly, the gold market composed of foreign investors and settled in London is closely related to the London gold market, and there is no fixed trading place, which is generally called "local London gold market";
The third is the gold futures market, which is a formal market. Its nature is the same as that of gold futures in new york and Chicago Mercantile Futures Exchanges. The trading mode is formal and the system is relatively sound, which can make up for the shortage of the gold and silver trading market. This kind of gold trading generally has a special gold trading place, and gold spot and futures trading are carried out at the same time. The trading system is a membership system. Only companies and banks that meet certain requirements can become members, and the quota of members is strictly controlled. Although the number of members entering the trading hall is small, their reputation is extremely high. Take China Gold and Silver Exchange as an example: members of the exchange conduct transactions in the form of open bidding and oral clappers. Because the gold merchants in the venue strictly abide by their credit, they rarely violate the rules.