The most important OTC markets for gold and silver are the "Loco London" markets in which the two metals are traded for delivery in London. These markets operate under the auspices of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), but are not exchanges. Full membership of the LBMA is restricted to bullion dealers with offices in London.
Loco London trading was originally the preserve of London bullion houses alone, but today Loco London gold and silver are freely traded by dealers in many other centres. In Asia, the main centres from which professional dealers quote Loco-London gold and silver prices are Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney and Singapore; in Europe, apart from London, dealers trade principally from Zurich and Frankfurt, while in the United States, New York predominates.
In all centres, prices are mainly quoted and traded against the U.S. dollar. Settlement of the U.S. dollar countervalue of deals done is generally made in New York, separately from the delivery of the gold and silver in London. Notwithstanding that the loco London gold market is a spot market, settlement can be deferred by making special credit facilities available to clients. These facilities normally involve the lending of gold and dollars, initial margins and variation margins, similar to the practice for gold futures trading. The development of this mechanism led to the formation of a secondary deferred settlement market, as distinct from an inter-bank spot market, in which traders, manufacturers and producers in the world take part. The Loco London Market can serve various purposes including hedging, investment and speculation.
As is typical with OTC markets there is no physical trading floor. Deals are transacted on a principal-to-principal basis between dealers who have established bilateral credit limits for trading with each other. Unlike organised exchanges there are no specified contract sizes nor formal rule books but trading and settlement are completed in accordance with well-established usage. Business is mainly conducted by telephone or through electronic dealing systems established to serve professional dealers. In either case, direct contact must be made on a bilateral basis. This means that it is difficult for investors to have real time access to the most favorable prices.
In fact, starting from the early of 2002, the bullion metal kept surging by the support of producers'' reduction in gold hedging, weaker dollar and equities markets and geographical political tension.
To seize on the opportunity of taking profit from gold's rally, investors can participate in the precious metal market through its precious metal online trading system. We provide the most efficient and convenient way for taking this opportunistic market.
Hong Kong Gold Market
Hong Kong Gold Market has already developed into one of the Big Four in the world, with its daily quotations keenly watched in other trading centers because of the main reasons below:
Freedom from foreign exchange
Excellent financial and communications services
Chinese people''s regard for gold
Hong Kong neatly fits into the time zone between the largest two Gold Markets in the world, New York and London. It is eight hours "faster" than the London time and thirteen hours "faster" than New York.
New York 10 p.m. | Hong Kong 11 a.m. | London 3 a.m.
All of the major Gold Markets are closed between 2:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Hong Kong time. Should any significant newsbreak occur during this period, international investors may take the advantage of the news by trading through Hong Kong Gold Market.