Current Gold Price

The current gold price is represented by the gold commodities contract price of gold per ounce or "spot gold price" (or simply "spot price") as traded in the COMEX (Commodities Exchange) under the symbol GC. The major gold trading markets are New York, London, Zurich, Hong Kong and Sydney. The current gold price is "fixed" every day in London by the 5-member Gold Pool and the metal then trades in these five markets with prices fluctuations depending on the demand for gold versus the supply available and the perception of value which in turn depends on a wide range of factors including the value of the various currencies, the price of other commodities and the social, economic and political conditions throughout the world.

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The gold rate will fluctuate throughout the day as it trades in the five main gold trading centers. Trading does not "begin" anywhere and it basically trades continuously based on the spot price of gold that is set by trading in all of the major markets and many smaller ones. An important and emerging gold market is India which has the largest private holdings of gold but a relatively undeveloped trading mechanism that could help monetize private gold, now held mainly in the form of jewelry.

The New York Commodity Exchange, or COMEX, has replaced London as the central gold trading market in the world in the few short years since 1975 due to its advanced trading and pricing technologies along with superior demand and supply factors and trading time. Being isolated geographically and by time zones by both the Pacific and Atlantic, US markets trade longer by themselves before markets in Europe hand over to them and US markets hand over to Australia and Asia.

The London Gold Market, or London bullion market, is run by members of the London Bullion Market Association or LBMA which is superficially overseen by the Bank of England. Most of the members of the LBMA are major banks, dealers or refiners, five of whom meet twice daily to "fix" the price of gold which is commonly referred to as the gold fix as already mentioned.

In the Hong Kong Gold Market, some of the world's largest banks and bullion traders participate. There are two gold markets here actually--one prices gold in US dollars for delivery in London and is called the Loco-London gold market and the other is the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society which prices gold in Hong Kong dollars.

It is important to understand that the current gold price is not entirely indicative of the price of gold coins, bars or bullion which is determined by a host of other factors. The current gold price, which is the "melt value" of pure, raw gold and as the form of gold increases in sophistication from paper gold to gold bars and ingots, then coins and jewelry, the price (referred to as the premium) increases and can become astonomical when one considers such intagible factors as design, workmanship, collectibility and rarity that may be found in gold bars, gold coins and jewelry. It is also important to realize that while today's gold price will broadly influence the prices of all gold investments, it is not always a given. For example, some gold mutual funds and ETFs may be heavily invested in gold mines in a country that is undergoing severe political disturbances or has had the misfortune of suffering a catastrophic natural disaster. Such events would disrupt the functioning of the mines, sometimes severly, impacting their share prices and those of the mutual funds that own them.