As the global bullion market continues to reel from a dramatic plunge in gold prices on Monday, traders from Hong Kong to New York are pointing the finger at others for being behind the move while struggling to unmask the mystery sellers.
In early Asian trading hours on Monday, investors dumped more than $500 million worth of bullion in New York in four seconds with selling occurring almost simultaneously on Chinese markets.
The sheer scale of order flow across both the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange – where combined volume for the day surpassed the notional equivalent of 250 tonnes – led many market trackers to speculate that fleet-footed Chinese hedge funds were behind the move.
Singapore-based futures brokerage Phillip Futures declared “indiscriminate selling by Asian hedge funds at the stroke of the market’s open in Shanghai” as the chief cause of the price fall in a letter to clients.
But the most well known Chinese funds denied involvement, and as futures trading is anonymous, dealers may never know who was buying and selling during those crucial seconds.
Such details often only become available if regulators take action, and amid the regulatory scrutiny following China’s recent equity market tumbles, it’s unlikely any trader or fund will be eager to take credit for setting off another avalanche.
