Investment in the latter part of 2002 and at the start of 2003 has been driven by geopoliticalconcerns1 but the underlying background is more complex, and reflects currency concerns, alongwith the desire to hedge against risks in the equity and bond markets and, notably in the case of2Argentina and Japan, risks in the banking sector. Corporate governance problems also played astrong part during the first part of 2002 , as a deepening mistrust of corporate reports andaccounts augmented some investors’desire to hedge against equity exposure . Gold thusreasserted itself as an alternative asset class, enabling the professional investor to diversify hisrisk. With concerns also swirling in the markets about the destiny of the dollar, the euro and theyen, gold and the Swiss franc came into play as reserve currencies.

　　As a consequence, the professional investor is once again looking at gold as a hedge against risk— something that many individuals in developing nations have never ceased to do. These individualinvestors in the Middle East, Indian sub-continent and the Far East have remained loyal to gold as asafe haven, or an“ ultimate investment”as a portable、 anonymous form of money and it is thissustained activity which has formed the foundation of the change in sentiment in the rest of theworld. The“retail”investor in the so-called first world is also aware of gold ’s resurgence and therehas been a noticeable rekindling of interest in coins and bars from this quarter as well interest ingold in other forms from other investment pools.

　　Offsetting this fresh demand to some extent is the fact that the slowing global economy had anegative effect on purchases of gold in the jewellery sector, and the poor Indian monsoon3 meantthat Indian offtake, the world ’s largest, was particularly badly hampered. This is one of theanswers to the question“why didn’t the price rise further, given all the other uncertainties in theworld?”One of the important features of gold is that more often than not, a reason for one man tobuy it is the same reason for another man to sell it. It is this that helps to make it an attractivealternative asset class as it has characteristics all of its own and a negative, if any, correlationwith many of the other major asset classes. In this case the slowing economy hindered jewellerypurchases, but prompted purchases from investors concerned that stock market valuations weretoo high given the deteriorating outlook for earnings.

　　It is worth pointing out also that if the price had rocketed, the integrity of the demand side wouldhave been severely undermined and such a rally would have proved unsustainable.

　　練習題：

　　Ⅰ. Translate the following expressions into English according to the passage :

　　1. 關于地緣政治的考慮

　　2. 股票債券市場

　　3. 對……有負面作用

　　4. 不確定因素

　　5. 和……成反比

　　6. 匿名的

　　Ⅱ. Questions :

　　1. Which country buy the most gold to make jewelry?

　　2. What are“reserved currencies”?