Price & Market

The ask price is the price at which a dealer or market maker sells a precious metal — that is, the lowest price at which buyers can immediately buy in the market.

Backwardation describes a market situation in which the spot price of a commodity is above the futures price – a signal of acute physical scarcity.

The bid price is the price a dealer or market maker is willing to pay for a precious metal – that is, the buying price from the seller's perspective.

The buying price is the price a dealer or refinery pays a private seller to purchase precious metals - it is always below the current spot price.

The COMEX (Commodity Exchange) is the world's most important futures exchange for gold and silver futures and the leading price reference market for physical precious metals.

Contango describes a market situation in which the futures price of a commodity is higher than the current spot price.

Euwax Gold II is a physically backed gold ETC of Boerse Stuttgart that securitises a direct claim to delivery of real gold. It is a German-listed product; UK investors are subject to UK Capital Gains Tax rules on any gains.

The Fear and Greed Index is a composite sentiment indicator that measures, on a scale from 0 (extreme fear) to 100 (extreme greed), how strongly fear or buying euphoria is driving current market behaviour.

The spot price is the continuously traded market price for immediate delivery, whereas the fixing is a reference price set only once (or twice) a day.

A future is a standardised forward contract that obliges buyer and seller to deliver or take delivery of a fixed quantity of a precious metal at a price agreed today for a future date.

A gold ETF (exchange traded fund) is an exchange-traded fund that tracks the gold price and allows investors to participate in its performance without owning physical gold.

The gold-silver ratio indicates how many ounces of silver are needed to buy one ounce of gold – a popular indicator for the relative valuation of the two metals.

A trading strategy in which investors swap gold for silver (or vice versa) when the price ratio of the two metals reaches historically extreme values.

The LBMA Fixing is a reference price for gold and silver set twice daily in London, used worldwide as a binding benchmark for trading transactions, mine contracts and financial products.

The London Fix is a reference price for gold, silver, platinum and palladium set twice daily, coordinated by the LBMA and used worldwide as the settlement basis for physical precious metal transactions.

Paper gold refers to gold financial products such as ETFs, ETCs, futures or certificates that track a gold price without the holder acquiring direct ownership of the physical metal - even if individual products (e.g. Xetra-Gold) securitise a right to delivery.

The premium is the mark-up over the spot price that buyers pay in addition to the pure metal value when acquiring physical precious metal products such as coins or bars.

The premium (agio) is the amount by which the selling price of a precious metal coin or bar exceeds the current metal value (spot price).

Seasonality in the gold market refers to recurring, calendar-related patterns in the gold price that arise from cyclical demand fluctuations in key regions.

The dealer price is the price at which a precious metals dealer sells a product to the buyer – it is always above the spot price and includes minting or refining costs, the dealer margin and, where applicable, VAT.

A silver ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) is an exchange-traded fund that tracks the price performance of silver, without investors having to buy or store physical metal themselves.

The tax-related surcharge on silver purchases refers to the portion of the price that buyers pay above the pure metal value, because investment silver - unlike investment gold - is subject to VAT.

The spot market is the market for immediate delivery of precious metals at the currently valid spot rate.

The spot price is the current market price for the immediate delivery of one troy ounce of a precious metal - the basis of almost all buying and selling prices.

The spot rate is the currently valid market price of a precious metal for immediate delivery and settlement, also known as the spot price.

The spread is the difference between the buying price (bid) and the selling price (ask) of a precious metal and represents the dealer's implicit trading margin.

The strike price is the standardised reference price of a precious metal, on which premiums, dealer margins and options contracts are based.

The interplay of supply (mine production, recycling, central-bank sales) and demand (jewellery, industry, investment) largely determines the precious-metal price.

Volatility measures the intensity of price fluctuations over a defined period and is regarded as a central measure of the market risk of an asset.

Xetra-Gold is an exchange-traded debt security (ETC) issued by Deutsche Börse Commodities GmbH, physically backed by gold and granting investors a securitised claim to delivery of real gold.