All that glitters is gold: Investors flock to safe haven bullion amid market turmoil
Amid the market turmoil at the start of this week, retail investors flocked to the safe haven asset of gold as they wrongly feared stocks would continue to sink.
Bullion trading on the Royal Mint’s website shot up by 336 per cent on Monday compared to the average throughout the year, with the numbers of investors transacting rising 53 per cent.
This left precious metals buying outpacing selling by a ratio of 5:1, according to data provided to City PM
In the frenzy to buy this week, men accounted for 81 per cent of gold purchasers, above the average 75 per cent for the rest of 2024. This looked like a return to the old stereotypical gold buyer, where 90 per cent were men just a few years ago.
However, not all demographics reverted to old ways, as almost half of gold-buyers on Monday were aged between 30 and 49 – mostly Millennials.
Millennials currently make up almost a third of the customers to the Royal Mint, a long way from the stereotypical investments of crypto and meme stocks for the group.
Gen X and Baby Boomers were slower to react, though they bought disproportionately heavily by midway through the week.
The Royal Mint reported that throughout the last year, it had sold 58 per cent more gold bullion than the year before the pandemic.
The panic buying of gold wasn’t just limited to the UK, with Google searches for ‘buy gold’ spiking 64 per cent at the start of August worldwide.
Gold prices hit a fresh high last month, and despite dipping slightly, still remain highly elevated compared to previous years.
The outflows from gold throughout July from seller Bullionvault were halved in just 24 hours following the volatility on Monday, the fintech said.
The market has been buoyed by uncertainty over the US election and increasingly geopolitical risks, as well as the metal’s use in chip manufacturing.