“Gold has lost about 8% this month, down from $1788 at the end of February 2012 to $1651 as of March 23, 2012, but it is still up about 5% for the year. Apart from the renewed optimism about the U.S. recovery and fading concerns about Europe; decline in demand from China and India also weighed on gold prices,” Neena Mishra for Zack’s wrote in a recent article. [Gold ETFs Rise to Test 50-Day Exponential Average]
Together, China and India are the two largest consumers of gold, creating 55% of jewelry demand and 49% of the total global demand for the metal. Gold demand is down this year in India due to the government’s policies to cut the country’s account deficit. The government doubled the import duty on gold and created a levy on unmarked jewelry. [Strategist: Why Gold ETFs Still Make Sense]
Other physically-backed ETFs:
ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares
Tisha Guerrero contributed to this article.
Full disclosure: Tom Lydon’s clients own GLD.