In February, BullionVault’s Gold
Investor Index climbed from a five-year low to 54.5 — its
highest level in 22 months and its fastest growth since April of 2013.
The Index, calculated by the Internet-based metals exchange operator BullionVault, tracks the balance of private investors starting or growing their gold reserves on online precious-metals market versus those who reduced or sold off their holdings.
So a reading above 50 suggests that there are more buyers than sellers in the market for the precious yellow metal.
Despite gold futures on Comex suffering a decline of
roughly 5% for the month of February — their largest monthly percentage
decline since September of last year, gold appetite hit its highest level.
“Price dips continue to attract long-term investors,” Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault said, quoted by MarketWatch.
Many of the gold buyers are coming from Europe so far this year.
“With the European Central Bank now embarking on QE bond purchases, cash inflows from Eurozone users of BullionVault have risen 34% in 2015 to date from the same period last year,” noted Ash.
However, the Gold Investor Index is a long way from its peak. Its reading hit 71.7 in September 2011. That is about the time gold prices rose to a record settlement near $1,900 an ounce on Comex.
