International gold prices have experienced a sudden surge after a brief plunge recently. On April 9th, gold shot up overnight, with spot gold soaring nearly $100 at one point, setting a record for the largest single-day increase in five years, surpassing the $3,100 per ounce level. Continuing the upward trend from the previous day, on April 10th, spot gold broke through the $3,100.00 per ounce mark, reaching $3,125.00 per ounce at the time of reporting.
This rebound has sparked discussions in the market and has led to a rise in domestic brand jewelry prices. The price of gold jewelry now stands at $960 per gram, up $42 per gram from its low on April 7th.
Gold prices have performed a “sudden drop → soaring” drama in the past few days.
The storm of plummeting that started last week (April 3) saw the 19% gain in the first quarter of the year quickly shrink to just a quarter.
Well-known brands like Zhou Dafu and Laomiao also saw a sudden drop of $50 per gram in jewelry prices within two days, with jewelry listed at $932 per gram. On April 5th, “gold prices plunge continuously” trended as the top search on Weibo. On that day, prices of Zhou Dafu’s 24k gold (jewelry, handicrafts), Lao Fu Jue’s 999 gold, and Zhouliufu’s 24k jewelry dropped by 30 yuan/gram in two days.
However, just when the market was pessimistic, the gold price suddenly rebounded by 0.87% in the early morning of the Asian market on April 8th, as bulls aggressively covered short positions, leading to a rapid reversal in gold prices.
On April 9th, international gold prices surged. Spot gold briefly exceeded $3,095, a 3.75% increase, marking the largest daily increase since 2020. COMEX gold futures were up 3.67% to $3,099.8 per ounce; New York spot gold surged by 3.27% to $3,080.00 per ounce.
Around 1 a.m. on April 10th, the increase expanded to nearly 3.75%, reaching $3,095.13 per ounce. By around 8:30 a.m., spot prices briefly surpassed $3,100.00 per ounce. On the early morning of April 10th, futures rose by 3.67% to $3,099.8 per ounce, marking the largest intraday increase since March 2020.
Market analysts pointed out that this sharp fluctuation in gold prices is closely related to the increasing macroeconomic and geopolitical risks internationally.
In the mainland Chinese market, as gold prices continue to hit new highs, consumers are paying more attention to gold jewelry. Driven by the mentality of “buying gold to hedge against inflation” and “gold prices will continue to rise,” there are still many consumers choosing to make purchases.
The recent significant volatility in the precious metals market has attracted regulatory attention. On April 7th, the Shanghai Gold Exchange issued a notice, adjusting the margin ratio and price limits of delayed gold and silver contracts due to the recent significant price fluctuations. Starting from the closing settlement on April 8th, the margin ratio for Ag (T+D) contracts increased from 13% to 15%, and the price fluctuation limit for the next trading day was adjusted from 12% to 14%.
Ag (T+D) refers to “silver delayed delivery contracts,” which allow investors to trade silver without requiring same-day delivery, enabling postponed settlement while allowing for the flexibility of spot transactions and futures trading.