Surge in investor appeal for gold offsets global demand drop

Surge in investor appeal for gold offsets global demand drop

A strong 21 per cent growth in global investment demand for gold in the third quarter partially offset an overall demand plunge for the yellow metal, according to the World Gold Council's latest Gold Demand Trends report.

Global gold demand dropped by 19 per cent year-on-year to 892 tonnes in Q3 even as central banks became net gold sellers for the first time since 2010 as some producing nations exploited near-record prices to soften the blow from the coronavirus pandemic.

The effects of the pandemic further impacted the jewellery sector. While the weakness caused by Covid-19 was compounded by record gold prices, third quarter jewellery demand fell 29 per cent y-o-y to 333 tonnes. While China and India accounted for