After World War II, Britain's political and economic status declined, the economy has not yet recovered, the pound depreciated sharply, and the gold market greatly exceeded the official price set by the International Monetary Fund of $35 1 ounce. Britain was forced to implement foreign exchange control and the London gold market closed. After the 1950s, the economies of Britain and other countries in the world tended to improve. 1954, London gold market reopened. 1960, the first dollar crisis broke out, and the price of London gold market rose to 4 1.50 USD/oz. The United States, Britain, France and other eight countries form a "golden pool" to maintain the price of gold. 1968, the dollar crisis rose again, forming a wave of buying gold. In just half a month, the British gold reserve lost1400 million dollars, and the "gold pool" was unable to maintain the price of gold, so it was forced to implement the dual price system of gold. 1979 10, Britain abolished all foreign exchange controls, and British residents were free to buy and sell gold. Although London gold market is not the largest gold market in the world now, it is still the main spot gold trading market in the world, and its price change is regarded as a barometer of the international gold market price.
There is a huge amount of gold traded in the London gold market, and most of them are wholesale transactions. Spot transactions in this market are denominated in dollars, and futures transactions are denominated in pounds.
The opening hours of London gold trading in summer are 3: 30pm-12: 00pm Beijing time and 4: 00pm-65438+0: 00am the next day in winter. Zurich gold market is a worldwide free gold market developed after World War II. It is centered on the three major Swiss banks and jointly manages gold. Unlike gold traders in London, they not only act as brokers, but also have a large amount of gold reserves for gold trading. Switzerland is a well-known financial refuge in western countries. Whenever the international political situation is turbulent or the monetary and financial markets fluctuate, a large amount of hot money from all over the world will flock to Switzerland to buy gold for preservation or speculation. In addition, Switzerland's interest rate is low, and its gold holdings can be classified as cash items, and there are no restrictions on market transactions. Its business development trend has become the world's largest spot gold trading center.
Zurich Huang Jincheng has no formal organizational structure, and the three major Swiss banks: UBS, Credit Suisse and UBS are responsible for clearing and settlement. Zurich Gold Vault was established on the basis of informal consultations among the above three major banks, and it is not under the jurisdiction of the government. The three major banks are not only the trading market of spot gold, but also banks will participate in the investment and trading activities of gold. Zurich gold market sets the trading price of the day at any specific time of each trading day according to the demand situation, and this price is the official price of gold in Zurich. All-day gold prices fluctuate on this basis and are not subject to daily limit. The New York gold market is currently the largest gold futures market in the world. Every year, two-thirds of gold futures contracts are traded in new york, but the transactions are full of moisture and speculation. The development history of the gold market in New York is short, but the development speed is quite fast. At the beginning of the New York Mercantile Exchange Gold Exchange 1974, the number of gold transactions per month did not exceed 40,000, but by the beginning of 1976, the number of gold transactions per month reached 500,000. At the end of 1977, the number of months rose to1million. 1979 rose to 6.5 million pens per month. 198 1 year, the number of monthly transactions reached10.4 million, the daily transaction volume reached 30,000-40,000, and about 70 tons of gold was traded. 1980, the New York gold market traded 800 million ounces, about 25,000 tons of gold, while the world gold supply was only 1700 tons per year.
The establishment and development of the New York gold market has greatly changed the pattern of the world gold market: on the one hand, it has promoted the development of the New York gold market; On the other hand, the huge trading volume in new york gold futures market affects the authority of daily pricing system in London gold market, and sometimes it is not as appropriate as that in New York gold market.
The monthly turnover of the New York gold market is divided into even months. Generally speaking, the water level of gold price is higher than that in the forward month, and there are few transactions. Gold products traded in the New York Mercantile Exchange include: gold futures, mini futures, gold funds and gold options. As the new york gold futures market is dominated by large hedge funds and institutions, the huge trading volume attracts investors from all sides, which makes the New York gold market highly liquid.
New york gold futures are open from 8: 20pm to 2: 30am Beijing time in summer and from 9: 20pm to 3: 30am the next day in winter. The gold market in Hong Kong has a history of over 70 years. Since 1960s, Hong Kong's gold market has developed into a major gold trading center in the world. 1987 The total value of gold imports reached186 billion Hong Kong dollars, an increase of 273.5% compared with 1986. In the same period, the gold turnover increased from HK$ 123 1 100 million to HK$ 3.710.40 billion, an increase of 300%.
The gold market in Hong Kong can be divided into:
(1) The main market, the gold and silver trading market dominated by capital allocation, is denominated in Hong Kong dollars.
(2) The intangible market, which operates in the London way, is transacted by telecommunication.
(3) Futures markets are traded in new york and Chicago and denominated in US dollars. Gold trading in the Hong Kong gold market is concentrated in chinese gold and silver exchange society. Since the period from 2: 30 am to 3: 00 am Hong Kong time coincides with the closure of other gold markets in the world, people who want to continue gold trading must go to the Hong Kong gold market. Coupled with the absence of foreign exchange control and other objective favorable conditions, the Hong Kong gold market has developed rapidly and has now become one of the four largest gold markets in the world.
Hong Kong is the most important gold market in Asia and is closely watched by other trading markets. Internationally, the Hong Kong gold market has just filled the gap between the closing of new york and Chicago markets and the opening of London market, and has become an inseparable part of the international gold market. Apart from the free foreign exchange policy, Hong Kong also has perfect financial and communication services, which is the best bridge for China's foreign economic and trade exchanges. For domestic investors, Hong Kong is the best choice to invest in gold.
On February 5, 20 1 165438, the trading hours of the gold and silver exchange were as follows:
Trading time of public bidding products: 9: 00 am-65438+02 noon; 2 pm -5 pm;
Trading time of electronic trading products: 8: 00 am to 3: 30 am the next day (including Saturday morning).