Après le bruit que la Chine chercherait à difersifier son portefeuiller en achetant pplus d'or ce qui a valu au cours du métal une montée soudaine de 10 dollars, c'est désormais au tour de la Corée du Sud d'augmenter sa réserve. Manoeuvre délicate comme l'explique l'article ci-dessous.

article complet ici
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/south- ... far-behind

..."" Such a move would have a powerfully bullish effect on the gold market. With just 14 tonnes of gold – or 0.2 per cent of $290bn reserves – Seoul is one of the smallest holders of gold among large economies. The world average is about 10 per cent, according to the World Gold Council, while countries such as the US, Germany and France hold well over 50 per cent of their reserves in gold.

That trend is one of the most important changes in the gold market in recent history, and has helped drive the metal’s rally to a series of fresh highs. On Thursday it touched $1,387.10 a troy ounce, an all-time nominal record.

South Korea’s central bank stressed any moves would have to be “cautious” and “prudent” because of the high gold price . One person familiar with the Bank of Korea’s stance on the metal said it was “receptive to the idea” of buying gold, but stressed that there remained “differences of views” within the central bank...""

“The bank is likely to remain hesitant, waiting for gold prices to come down, which is unlikely,” he said. “Although gold prices have risen sharply in recent months, the upward trend is likely to continue for now as the dollar is likely to remain weak, with Ben Bernanke talking about additional easing measures and central banks worldwide likely to keep buying gold amid ultra-low interest rates.”

Another issue for central banks looking to diversify into gold is the size of the market. Relative to the size of foreign exchange reserves, the gold market is tiny, meaning any large purchases could drive up the price. An increase in Seoul’s gold holdings of just a few percentage points would translate into 100-200 tonnes of purchases – a significant additional source of demand compared to annual production from mines of just 2,500 tonnes.