Same thing repoported by another source from other point of view:
Wednesday February 14, 7:25 am Eastern Time
World 2000 gold demand holds steady
By Sara Marani
LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Global gold demand remained virtually unchanged year-on-year in 2000 at 3,281 tonnes, with firm demand growth in India, Turkey and the United States, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Wednesday.
The WGC said in its quarterly Gold Demand Trends publication that demand in the 27 markets monitored by the industry-funded organisation reached a new quarterly record in October-December of 894 tonnes, a rise of 11 percent.
``The strong growth in Q4 offset a weaker performance in the first three quarters so that demand for the year as a whole...was essentially unchanged,'' the WGC said in a statement.
Demand set new records in several key consumer markets, including India, the world's largest consumer, where demand rose two percent to 855.2 tonnes.
``In India...demand edged above the previous record in 1999, despite an abnormally low number of auspicious days in the Hindu calendar for weddings and a patchy monsoon hitting rural incomes in some areas,'' the WGC said.
Spot gold edged marginally higher after the WGC demand figures were released, with dealers saying gold was eyeing moves in the dollar. Spot gold was last quoted at $261.00/$261.50 a troy ounce, up from Tuesday's New York close at $260.70/$261.20.
JEWELLERY AT NEW RECORD, INVESTMENT DEMAND DOWN
The WGC said annual jewellery consumption also set a new record, reaching 2,902 tonnes, up four percent from the previous record in 1999.
``Jewellery demand should...continue to benefit from a generally benign economic scenario,'' the report said.
``Factors such as the swing back to yellow jewellery, a more 'normal' number of auspicious days for Hindu weddings (although offset by the effect of the Gujurat earthquake) and...the increase in promotional spending that the WGC will be able to undertake, can only accentuate this effect.''
By contrast, investment demand in 2000 was subdued at 379.1 tonnes, falling 21 percent from the 1999 level, which had been exceptionally high due to fears of Y2K disruption.
(cont)
biz.yahoo.com |
