After staying up all night in London to watch the EU referendum results, and mourning the outcome, Lauro Franzese decided to make some money.
“I thought I might as well get something out of it,” the 61-year-old army veteran said as he walked the streets of the city’s Hatton Gardens jewelry district. “So I sold gold today — at about 30 percent profit.”
Franzese, who unloaded a ring he had owned for a decade, as well as several coins, took advantage of the biggest-ever one-day gain for gold that is denominated in pounds. As the British currency sank to the lowest level in three decades, gold rose a record 14 percent to ￡966.14 (US$1,322).
In a shop next to the Savoy Hotel, dealers said they had never seen anything like it. Some Londoners were rushing to sell, many more to buy.
“Anybody who’s got a spare pound to put into gold is doing it,” said Michael Cooper, commercial director of ATS Bullion Ltd. “We’re doing 10 times the business we normally do.”
In the fallout from Britain’s decision to leave the EU, the unexpected resignation of the prime minister and uncertainty over the nation’s economic future, investors looked for safety and found it in gold — a precious metal long prized as a universal store of value immune to the whims of political leaders.
The Royal Mint, which makes circulation and collector coins, and specialist online brokers reported surges in new customers. The Mint saw a “significant spike” in buying, with account openings up 200 percent since Thursday.
“We’re going to be inundated,” said Cooper of ATS, which traces its history to the 1600s. “We’re buying pretty much everything we can from the refiners. They’re not going to get enough in to fill all the orders.”
In London’s spot gold market, the biggest in the world, prices jumped as much as 8.1 percent, the most since the height of the global financial crisis in 2008. The metal later pared gains, trading near a two-year high of US$1,316 an ounce.
CoinInvest.com said a record number of UK visitors flooded the Web site at about 5:30am on Friday.
Gold Britannia coins, which bear the image of the armed Roman goddess, and Sovereigns were the best sellers, said Daniel Marburger, a director at the Frankfurt-based retailer.
BullionVault, an online trading and vaulting service, saw its busiest day ever. Customers exchanged ￡25.8 million in metal by 2pm on Friday, more than two weeks worth of average trading last year, according to a statement from Adrian Ash, head of research at the London-based firm.
Some people, like Franzese, took advantage of the jump in prices. Baird & Co, a precious metals dealer in London, transferred staff from other parts of the company to answer phones and meet demand.
“People in Britain who bought in January are now seeing prices ￡200 above where they bought,” said Tony Dobra, an executive director at the firm. “They’re cashing in.”
No such luck for Ruth Smith, a 48-year-old financial services professional.
“The size of my diamond engagement ring has got smaller now thanks to Brexit” and the pound’s sharp decline in value, she said. “I had been waiting for two months to cash in on my investments and replace my current fake ring that cost ￡4 with a proper three-carat ring after the vote — but now all our plans have gone down the drain with the [US] dollar-price effect.”
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
TikTok abounds with viral videos accusing prestigious brands of secretly manufacturing luxury goods in China so they can be sold at cut prices. However, while these “revelations” are spurious, behind them lurks a well-oiled machine for selling counterfeit goods that is making the most of the confusion surrounding trade tariffs. Chinese content creators who portray themselves as workers or subcontractors in the luxury goods business claim that Beijing has lifted confidentiality clauses on local subcontractors as a way to respond to the huge hike in customs duties imposed on China by US President Donald Trump. They say this Chinese decision, of which Agence
RSS