Gold futures are also called "gold futures contracts". Futures contracts with gold as the trading object. Like general futures contracts, gold futures contracts also include trading unit, quality grade, term, final maturity date, quotation method, delivery method, minimum price change range, daily price change limit and so on. According to the different units of measurement, gold futures contracts can generally be divided into two specifications. Take the Chicago Grain Exchange as an example. One is gold futures with a weight of 1 1,000g and a purity of 99. 5%, and the other is gold futures with a weight of 65,438+0,000 Moz and a purity of 99. 5%.[ 1]
Market composition:
After learning the basics, let's learn about the composition of the gold market. Like other commodities, the gold market is also composed of the most basic supply and demand sides, but gold is different from other commodities and its market structure is very complicated. There are not only gold suppliers and demanding enterprises and individuals, but also central banks, commercial banks and various investment institutions, as well as professional gold traders and brokers engaged in agency business.
The most basic part of the gold market, in which the suppliers are mainly gold mines and gold smelting enterprises, and the demanders are mainly gold products manufacturers and jewelers.
Gold reserve is also the formulation and implementation institution of monetary policy and an important force affecting the gold market. When the central bank needs to increase its gold reserves, it is an important demander of the gold market, and when the central bank wants to reduce its gold reserves, it is also an important supplier of the gold market. Central banks in major western countries generally mainly sell gold, while R is engaged in "lending gold business", and more often appears as a supplier.
Commercial banks: Commercial banks have multiple identities in the gold market. The gold business of commercial banks is very complicated. Some of their businesses are to carry out the gold business of the central bank, and some are to carry out the gold business on behalf of customers. From this point of view, commercial banks are important intermediaries in the gold market, and their agency business covers both gold wholesale and gold retail. On the other hand, commercial banks also have some gold self-operated businesses, and they also have the identity of gold self-dealers.
Financial investment instruments are also an indispensable and important investment variety in investors' investment portfolio. There are a lot of gold investors in the world, including institutional investors and individual investors. The most important funds among institutional investors include the following two categories:
① Traditional funds: refer to traditional commodity funds and hedge funds.
② Exchange-traded Gold Fund (ETFS): This is a new fund in the securities market in recent years. The fund issues fund shares in the securities market, and then invests the funds raised by the fund in gold. Usually, each fund unit is equal to 65,438+0/65,438+00 ounces of gold.
Intermediaries in gold market: such as gold exchanges, agents, brokers, market makers, etc. Intermediaries play the role of organizing transactions, serving investors and communicating with all parties involved in the market, and only play the role of activating market transactions and giving full play to the functions of the gold market from summer to sun.
From the composition of the gold market, we can see that the global gold supply mainly consists of three parts: one is mineral gold, which is a new gold in the world; Second, the central bank sells gold, that is, the gold reserves of various countries flow to the market; Third, the recovered gold, that is, the gold held by consumers (mainly jewelry) has become money.
The demand for gold mainly consists of two parts: one is gold processing and industrial mining, that is, the actual consumption part; The second is the demand for gold investment, including the increase of gold reserves by the central bank and the investment demand of institutional and individual investors. Trading plays an important role in the role of the gold market.