Significance of Gold
For over 5000 years, gold has been the most important measuring rod of wealth for individuals and nations. Its resistance to corrosion and scarcity (preciousness) allot value to it. Gold serves as an industrial input, wealth creation measure, trading commodity, and a hedging method. Just like any investment instrument, the value of gold too varies with the macro and micro economic factors. The price of gold today is the outcome of several factors discussed below.

International Gold Prices
For all the buy-and-hold gold investments today, the focus is on value creation that does not appear overnight. Therefore, such investors do not track every move of the market very closely. However, in the case of speculative holding or distress selling, the daily market quote of the metal becomes significant. One interesting paradox here is that the value of gold by itself does not vary much; rather the changing value of the paper currency with the changing economic scenario is the influencer here. In international market, gold is measured in the terms of Troy Ounces or Grams, and its value fluctuates on an almost hourly basis. The price of gold today is fixed in reference to the ‘London Gold Fixing,’ obtained through the collaborative price negotiations of the top five bullion trading organizations:

• Deutsche Bank
• Barclays Capital
• Hong Kong Shanghai Banking corporation (HSBC)
• Société Généralé
• Scotia Mocatta

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