Singapore makes another bid for Asia to help set gold price

SINGAPORE -- Singapore will study the possibility of bringing the gold benchmark pricing in London to users in Asia in a move that would also allow market participants in the world's top consuming region to help set the price of bullion.

The importance of Asia, home to the world's biggest buyers China and India, has been on the rise as the key source of demand for gold, but bullion traders in the region are often exposed to intraday price volatility and overnight foreign exchange risks with benchmark prices currently being set out of London.

The Singapore Bullion Market Association, London Bullion Market Association, and Intercontinental Exchange Benchmark Administration will launch a joint feasibility study on the development of "LBMA pre-AM gold price at 2 p.m. Singapore time", Lim Hng Kiang, minister for trade and industry and deputy chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, told an industry conference today.

The study "is an important first step toward establishing a U.S. dollar price-discovery mechanism for gold during Asian business hours," Lim said. "When in place, it will facilitate the timely tracking of Asian demand and allow participants in Asia to settle their trades within the same business day." ...

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