Latest news with #ShaokaiFan
CNA
11-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Sales of gold in Singapore on the rise amid global economic uncertainty
SINGAPORE: Gold dealers in Singapore have seen sales of physical bars and coins soar in the first four months of the year. In the first quarter, Singaporeans bought 2.5 tonnes of gold bullion, a 35 per cent increase compared with the same period last year – the biggest on-year jump since 2010. Despite the precious metal's spot price breaking US$3,000 (S$3,900) in March and surging to US$3,500 less than two months later, buyers do not appear deterred and sales are still going strong. Analysts said part of the rush to purchase gold is due to hedging against economic risks, as rising global uncertainty pushes investors to go for a safe haven asset. SNAPPING UP GOLD Mr Gregor Gregersen, founder of The Reserve – a high-capacity vault for the storage of gold and silver in Changi – said some ultra-high net worth clients are switching over to physical gold. "(They're) buying, let's say, S$60 million to S$70 million worth of gold. (Some) clients are doing it because they want to materialise the might be having large positions in paper hold and they're getting more worried about what might happen,' he said. 'They're saying, 'I'd rather… get physical gold, put it in a safe place, and essentially reduce my risk'." Mr Shaokai Fan, the World Gold Council's head of Asia-Pacific and central banks, said gold has proven its resilience during periods of instability. 'It's also a relatively liquid asset, so I think that's what caused a lot of investors to still invest in gold despite the fact that the price is relatively high,' he noted. He added there are growing concerns about the future of traditional safe haven assets like the United States dollar and US Treasuries. 'When you don't have those safe haven assets available, you're left with a few others … (such as) government bonds and gold. Many investors have … turned to gold as a way to brace themselves against an uncertain world,' he said. NOT ALL GOLD GLITTERS But not all gold assets are being snapped up. Demand for gold jewellery fell 20 per cent on-year in the first quarter, partly due to the record price environment. Gold dealer Brian Lan said jewellery tends to cost more as there are labour costs involved in crafting pieces. Jewellery is also subject to goods and services tax (GST), unlike investment-grade gold bullion. 'So, comparing both, if you want to look for investment, of course more people will look at physical gold instead of jewellery,' said Mr Lan, who is the managing director of GoldSilver Central. 'Many people see it as a universal currency. People (also) think they can melt the gold, if required, and change it into jewellery.' For the rest of the year, analysts said the appeal of gold with central banks will underpin demand, pushing prices to fresh all-time highs. Mr Fan pointed out that central banks have been buying huge amounts of gold for the last three years. 'Central banks are ultimately much more sensitive about some of these political developments that we've been seeing. They, like other investors, also need to find ways to build more resilience,' he said.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Gold Fields Limited (GFI) a Cheap Gold Stock to Invest in Right Now?
We recently published a list of the . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) stands against the other cheap gold stocks to invest in right now. The World Gold Council said in its annual report that the global demand for gold hit a record high in 2024, fueled by investment demand growth and robust central bank purchases. Total gold transactions reached 4,974 tons in 2024, up from 4,899 tons in 2023, including over-the-counter (OTC) investments. Central banks are exhibiting an 'insatiable' appetite for gold. The Council said they have attained a significant milestone, maintaining a continuously solid pace of gold purchases. The buying exceeded 1,000 tons for the third consecutive year in 2024. The National Bank of Poland took the lead as the largest net central bank gold purchaser, adding 90 tons to its reserves. The Central Bank of Turkey added 75 tons, making it the second-largest net purchaser of gold among the world's central banks. The Reserve Bank of India took the third spot with consistent gold purchases every month, except December. Gold demand in India rose after the government slashed gold import duties, bringing them down to 6% from 15%. In addition, gold investment demand increased across all ASEAN markets in 2024, with Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand reflecting double-digit year-over-year increases. CNBC reported that Shaokai Fan, global head of central banks at the World Gold Council, said the following about the situation: 'In 2024, global gold demand surged to a new quarterly high and a record annual total bolstered by heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainties.' READ ALSO: and . The annual overall investments in gold are experiencing an increase, rising to 25% and hitting a four-year high of 1,180 tons. This growth was primarily attributed to gold exchange-traded funds. CNBC reported that the demand for gold coins and bars remained firm, boosted by growing demand from India and China. The World Gold Council report said that Chinese investors 'faced a dearth of alternative assets in which to invest.' Therefore, the significant factors that supported investors' inclination toward gold included persistent equity market volatility, domestic economic uncertainty, and record-low government bond yields. In addition to regional increases in gold investments, OTC investments also remained stable in 2024. OTC transactions occur between two parties directly instead of trading managed by an exchange. The Council said that the demand reflects attempts by individuals with high net worth to hedge economic and geopolitical risks. In contrast to the demand for gold, the jewelry sector showed an opposite scenario in terms of demand. Consumption in the jewelry sector fell 11% year-over-year, primarily pressured by higher prices. The report showed and CNBC reported that this sector was the only outlier, as other sectors gained. According to the Council's analysts, with consumer spending power pressured by soft economic growth and rising prices, demand for gold jewelry is anticipated to stay weak in 2025. CNBC reported that Louise Street, World Gold Council senior markets analyst, gave the following 2025 outlook for the sector: 'In 2025, we expect central banks to remain in the driving seat and gold ETF investors to join the fray, especially if we see lower, albeit volatile interest rates.' The report also said that overall investment demand is expected to remain healthy in 2025, with anticipated lower interest rates to slash the opportunity costs of holding gold. We sifted through stock screeners, online rankings, and ETFs to compile a list of gold stocks with forward P/E less than 15. We then selected the top 10 with the highest number of hedge fund holders as of Q4 2024. We sourced the hedge fund sentiment data from Insider Monkey's database. The list is sorted in ascending order of hedge fund sentiment. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). Aerial view of a large gold mine in South Africa with many excavators and trucks working. Forward P/E: 13.64 Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 24 Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) is a globally diversified gold producer with nine operating mines in South Africa, Australia, Chile, Ghana, Peru, and Canada. It engages in underground and surface gold and copper mining. The company is also involved in the exploration, extraction, smelting, and processing of silver. According to CNBC, Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) has a total attributable annual gold-equivalent production of over 2.30 million ounces (Moz), gold mineral reserves of 44.6 Moz, and gold mineral resources of 30.3 Moz, excluding mineral resources. Fiscal Q4 2024 was a strong quarter for the company, with attributable equivalent gold production reaching 644koz and reflecting a 26% quarter-over-quarter increase. This strong performance has continued into 2025, with all assets tracking well against their operating plans in January 2025. Strong financial performance and improved operational delivery in H2 2024 allowed Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) to declare a final dividend of 700 SA cents per share, 67% higher than last year. On December 2, Gold Fields Limited (NYSE:GFI) entered into a final Implementation Agreement with Torq Resources Inc. for the Santa Cecilia Project. As per the agreement, GFI will invest $48 million to acquire up to 75% of the project's indirect stake. In a report released on March 3, Josh Wolfson from RBC Capital maintained a Buy rating on the company with a price target of $22.00. Overall, GFI ranks 7th on our list of the cheap gold stocks to invest in right now. While we acknowledge the potential of GFI as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than GFI but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the . READ NEXT: and Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at . Sign in to access your portfolio
