MARKET REVIEW OF THE SGE IN DECEMBER 2004

In December, the Shanghai Gold Exchange traded 73,873.2 kilograms of gold. The gold traded from January to December increased by 41.35 per cent year-on-year to 665.3 tons, with the trading value up 59.17 per cent to 73.097 billion yuan. Platinum traded in the SGE was 2,644 kilograms in December. For the whole year the SGE recorded 27.78 tons of platinum trading, valued at 6.425 billion yuan.

In December, global gold price was dragged down by the rebound of dollar and profit-taking of long positions, registering a month high and low of US$431.13 and US$456.75. The international platinum price remained in fluctuation, moving between US$817 and US$882.

Au99.95 in the SGE opened the month at 120.1 yuan per gram, and closed at 118.00 yuan, down 1.80 per cent. Platinum opened the month at 237.38 yuan and had a month close of 235.30 yuan, down 0.84 per cent.

In December, the clearing volume for gold and platinum was 26,013.9 kilograms and 1,340 kilograms respectively. The clients in the SGE reached 720 with 28 new entrants. The principal and agent turnovers were 5.625 billion and 3.732 billion respectively.