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Dmitry Fedorov is the founder of the eponymous jewelry house. His main focus is the creation of Orthodox-inspired premium luxury jewelry of high artistic merit. He told Rough&Polished about his journey in the jewelry industry, about choosing the ‘Orthodox...

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The president of the World Diamond Council takes time out of her busy schedule to tell Rough&Polished readers about the critical work of the WDC. Zerouki, the first female present of the body, which includes all the important industry organizations among...

14 october 2024

James Campbell: Botswana Diamonds optimistic as it enters uncharted territory of using AI for mineral exploration

London-listed Botswana Diamonds has expressed optimism about the company’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) to scan the exploration database in Botswana to look for new mineralised deposits. Company managing director James Campbell told Rough...

07 october 2024

Artur Salyakayev: For me, happiness is freedom to make my ideas happen and create valuable products

Artur Salyakayev is an art entrepreneur, founder of the International Jewelry Academy (IJA) and the INCRUA jewelry company. He has initiated and developed successful projects in jewelry industry and services sector. He is also a leading expert...

30 september 2024

Paul Zimnisky: China key for sustained recovery in demand for natural diamonds, prices

The curtailing of upstream and midstream natural diamond production in the past months is starting to have an effect on prices, according to the New-York-based independent diamond and jewellery analyst and consultant, Paul Zimnisky. He told Rough & Polished’s...

23 september 2024

Dollar strength and negative sentiment left gold down 3.5% in July

08 august 2022
The World Gold Council report on July says that the dollar was strong and gold investment weak during the month. Gold fell 3.5% in July, leaving it down 2.9% on the year at $1,753/oz.
A strong US dollar and sticky real yields weighed on gold in the first half of July. But softer inflation expectations mid-month and Jobless Claims a few days later in the US nudged the dollar and real rates down. These reversals also coincided with extended positioning in futures markets for currencies, gold and, to a lesser extent, rates. 
China: China’s gold demand was robust in July. First, total holdings in Chinese gold ETFs saw a notable rise, mainly driven by opportunity-buying amid a lower local gold price combined with risk-off sentiment and higher safe-haven demand as the local stock market fell.
India: Retail demand remained tepid in July due to muted rural demand, the wedding season drawing to a close and the higher import duty on gold. Retail demand saw marginal improvement during the third week of the month due to a correction in the domestic gold price, however consumers held back purchases in expectation of a further correction to come.
Europe: With inflation expected to have reached a new all-time high in July, the European Central Bank (ECB) increased its policy rate by 0.5%, exiting its negative interest rates policy with the first increase in 11 years. The ECB also introduced a new debt crisis tool aimed at avoiding a surge in borrowing costs for vulnerable economies. But despite the continued less-than-rosy picture for the region, holdings in European gold ETFs sold off during the month, led by significant outflows in UK funds.
US: US Mint data shows that gold coin sales (American Eagle and Buffalo) totalled 104,000 oz in July, below the y-td average of 158,000 oz. Annualising current sales suggest that 2022 could surpass full-year 2021 sales of 1.6mn oz, reaching an estimate of 1.9mn oz. 

Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished