Southeastern Asian Buying Activity Strong Year-to-Date: Standard Bank

Bloomberg reported that Standard Bank Plc has said that the appetite for physical gold from Southeast Asia has been unusually high to date this year.

As quoted in the market report:

India, the biggest buyer in 2011, raised taxes on gold imports two days ago to reduce a record current-account deficit and to moderate demand. Standard Chartered Plc said earlier this month that its gold shipments to India soared on mounting concern the duty would be raised. While gold has gained for the past 12 years, the best run in at least nine decades, prices dropped as much as 9.5 percent from October through Jan. 4.

To view the whole Bloomberg report, click here.