The smart young women and coiffured housewives browsing for rings and necklaces at a shiny new mall in a city on the Yangtze River could breathe fresh life into China's boom in gold consumption
The big story is gold. It shot above that USD 1,500 an ounce mark for the first time ever as worries over the outlook for the US economy boosted the metal as a safe haven whereas rising inflation helped lift Asian demand. Now gold prices are up 5% in the month of April.
Gold appetite in India, which imported a record quantity of the metal last year, is likely to fall in 2011 by 16%, as near-record prices dent demand in the world's largest consumer, resulting in a positive impact on banks' deposit growth, Morgan Stanley said.