Bullion trading trebled on ‘Meltdown Monday’ compared to the usual daily average in 2024, with buy orders outpacing sell orders by five to one, The Royal Mint reveals.
Trading on The Royal Mint’s website surged by 336% compared to the usual daily volumes for this year alone.
It revealed that the number of investors transacting increased by 53%, with precious metal buying outpacing selling by a ratio of five to one.
Investors turned their attention to 1oz Gold Britannia coins, digital gold, Sovereign coins and 1kg gold bars as gold prices dropped on Monday 5 August – dubbed ‘Meltdown Monday’ as global stock markets tumbled due to US recession fears.
‘Investor opportunity to lock in lower prices’
Stuart O’Reilly, markets insights manager at The Royal Mint, said as global financial markets plummeted in Monday’s trading, precious metal investors were split into two camps.
“On one side, traders were forced to reduce their holdings in gold and silver following recent market highs so that they could cover losses in global equity markets.
“At the same time, as precious metals prices dropped after this sell-off, UK retail investors viewed this as an opportunity to lock in lower prices while increasing their allocations to gold and silver. Clearly, many were opportunistically buying the dip, as gold dropped below $2,370 per Troy ounce after rallying to more than $2,470 the Friday before”, he said.
O’Reilly added that the concern around Monday’s trading also led to a rush of new investors buying precious metals “as many will have likely been motivated to invest by the asset’s ‘safe haven’ status”.
He revealed that the number of first-time customers buying bullion from The Royal Mint increased by 68% on Monday versus the daily average this year.
“As the home of precious metals investing, we often see how significant market events, such as Monday’s shock, impact sentiment [about] precious metals. From our experience, gold and precious metals investing grow in popularity during more challenging times for the global economy as investors look to diversify their portfolios and hedge against inflation,” he added.
This surge in gold was also noted by online gold, silver, platinum and palladium marketplace BullionVault. It revealed profit-taking in July reversed into gold buying in August, as investors sought to protect portfolios against the sudden crash in global stock markets amid US recession fears.
Investors reaped the rewards of record gold prices in July, with sales outweighing gold buying by 152kg worth over £9m, according to BullionVault.
Related: Record number flock to gold in 2023: How to invest in the precious metal
