JEDDAH, 31 May 2006 — Demand for gold in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Gulf has marked a decline in the first quarter of 2006.
This is attributed to volatile prices of the precious metal and also the stock market crash.
There has, however, been a big increase in demand from institutional investors, according to the Q1 report issued by the Dubai-based regional office of the World Gold Council (WGC) yesterday.
Sustained interest of different groups of institutional investment drove the gold price to a new 26-year high during the quarter. This resulted in an increase in demand for institutional investment and decrease in demand for gold jewelry.
“In Saudi Arabia, demand fell by 30 percent due to high and volatile world gold prices as well as the stock market crash since February-end, which highly affected both consumer sentiments and the purchasing power of individuals,” the WGC stated.