AGL 37.80 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.8%)
AIRLINK 218.50 Decreased By ▼ -4.39 (-1.97%)
BOP 10.93 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (1.02%)
CNERGY 7.57 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.13%)
DCL 9.16 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-2.76%)
DFML 40.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.61 (-1.49%)
DGKC 102.11 Decreased By ▼ -4.65 (-4.36%)
FCCL 34.95 Decreased By ▼ -2.12 (-5.72%)
FFL 19.50 Increased By ▲ 0.26 (1.35%)
HASCOL 12.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.48 (-3.64%)
HUBC 131.00 Decreased By ▼ -1.64 (-1.24%)
HUMNL 14.59 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-0.95%)
KEL 5.19 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-3.89%)
KOSM 7.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-1.74%)
MLCF 45.80 Decreased By ▼ -2.38 (-4.94%)
NBP 66.04 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.38%)
OGDC 223.50 Increased By ▲ 0.24 (0.11%)
PAEL 44.30 Increased By ▲ 0.80 (1.84%)
PIBTL 9.01 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.66%)
PPL 194.00 Decreased By ▼ -4.24 (-2.14%)
PRL 43.50 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (2.98%)
PTC 26.62 Decreased By ▼ -0.77 (-2.81%)
SEARL 107.00 Decreased By ▼ -3.08 (-2.8%)
TELE 10.14 Decreased By ▼ -0.38 (-3.61%)
TOMCL 35.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.67 (-1.83%)
TPLP 14.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.37 (-2.47%)
TREET 25.98 Decreased By ▼ -0.55 (-2.07%)
TRG 67.40 Decreased By ▼ -1.45 (-2.11%)
UNITY 33.59 Decreased By ▼ -0.60 (-1.75%)
WTL 1.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-3.35%)
BR100 12,397 Increased By 33.3 (0.27%)
BR30 37,347 Decreased By -871.2 (-2.28%)
KSE100 117,587 Increased By 467.3 (0.4%)
KSE30 37,065 Increased By 128 (0.35%)

China's net gold imports via main conduit Hong Kong climbed to a three-month high in March on restocking after the new year holiday, but market sources said consumer demand remained soft. Gold is a popular gift during the Lunar New Year holiday, which was observed in early February this year. China's imports hit a 17-month low in January, but recovered the following month.
The top consumer's net gold imports climbed to 71.8 tonnes last month from 53.9 tonnes in February, according to data emailed to Reuters by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. Total imports rose to 76.2 tonnes from 55.1 tonnes. "Banks have been importing some gold in the first quarter. But the effects from the weak demand will show up in the next few months," said a source at a major Chinese bank.
"After the holiday, in February and March, Chinese banks have been importing quite a lot. But premiums have been going down in recent weeks, and the effect will show in April and May imports," he said. Data last week from Switzerland, a major storage and refining centre for precious metals, showed that gold exports to China in March fell by a third from a year ago. Tuesday's Hong Kong data, however, showed a small increase from March 2015.
Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong, said there could have been delays in imports in February due to the holiday and that was reflected in the higher March numbers. "But physical demand is not very aggressive. We are seeing only some investment demand coming in," Leung said. Chinese demand has been soft this year as a 16 percent rally in gold prices has curbed appetite for price-sensitive jewellery purchases.

Copyright Reuters, 2016

Comments

Comments are closed.