The market price of an ounce of gold is most commonly expressed in the "spot price" of gold.
The spot price of gold is the price of a troy ounce of gold. The spot price is the price a buyer should expect to pay for an ounce of gold for immediate delivery.
It should be noted that individual buyers cannot generally obtain gold at the spot price. This is because gold is available to buyers in various forms, such as coins and bars, which require fabrication and transport. The added cost of fabrication and transport, plus mark ups for dealer profits result in a price greater than the spot price.
The spot price of gold is available to idividuals in a wide variety of media. It has been quoted in newspapers, from The Wall Street Journal to your local business section, each day for decades. It is reported on various business television news networks, such as Bloomberg, CNBC and Fox Business Channel. The spot price is also reported occasionally on radio news programs.
And, of course, the price of gold is available from many sources on the internet, including ITM Trading's web site at ITMTrading.com. ITM Trading provides free current price indications for Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium. In addition to current price indications, ITM Trading shows the change from the previous New York market close and the Afternoon London market "fix" ("PM Fix).
Note that the gold market never sleeps. Gold is truly a currency without a country in that it trades somewhere 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Active gold markets exist in Chicago, New York, London, Zurich, Istanbul, Dubai, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney and elsewhere. Gold is usually priced in US dollars in most quotes published in the media, but it is often quoted in the local currency in these various locales and, due to changes in the relative value of international currencies, the value, and even direction of movement, of the price of gold can vary from locale to locale.
For instance, during the "Asian Contagion" of 1997-98, the price of gold in many Asian currencies rose sharply, even while it hit multiyear lows in terms of the US dollar.
Still, for most Americans, the spot price of gold expressed in US dollars is the ideal gauge of activity in the gold market.
At this point, one might be wondering about the "PM Fix," sometimes referred to as the "London fix."
London has historically been one of the world's financial centers of gravity. This was especially true of the gold market during the height of the British Empire. Not only did the sun never set on the British Empire, but the sun never set on the gold market either.
For that reason, the price of gold in London has always been an important benchmark for the gold market. Starting way back in 1919, the five major members of the London gold exchange met to settle the price of gold at the open and close of the market.
The fixing was suspended between 1939 and 1954 due to World War II and post-war government controls on the price of gold as a result of the Bretton Woods agreement.
Even today, the price of gold is fixed in London at the open of the market (AM Fix) and the close of the market (PM Fix) by the five largest members of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). Those members are Scotia-Mocatta, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Societe Generale. This London fixing is still the primary guide off of which the other gold markets around the world guide.
Author Resource:
ITM Trading has years of experience in the rare gold coins market plus leading news on how to buy gold coins .
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