The spot gold price refers to the price of gold trading in the current international gold market. The international spot gold price fluctuates every day, generally based on the London gold market, with an opening price, a middle price and a closing price. From a historical point of view, the price trend of spot gold in different stages has its own characteristics.
In 1919, the world's first gold market was established in London. At that time, most capitalist countries implemented the gold standard system, that is, gold was used as the standard currency. At that time, the price of gold was 20.67 US dollars per ounce, and the trend of spot gold price was characterized by being fixed.
After World War II, the capitalist world established an international monetary system centered on the US dollar, namely the Bretton Woods system. The characteristic of the gold price at this stage is that the "official price" is adopted, and the market loses its characteristics and becomes a virtual gold market. After the dollar-to-gold price system is established, the U.S. can sell U.S. goods at high prices and buy raw materials and other materials at low prices to obtain huge profits from unequal exchanges. Less benefits.
In recent decades, after the implementation of the gold non-monetization policy, the governments of various countries have relaxed the reform of gold control, the freedom of gold import and export has been greatly improved, and the global transaction volume has increased sharply, which has caused sharp fluctuations in gold prices. Looking back at the history of the international gold market, combined with the analysis of the development of international finance and the world economy, it can be found that both the decline of the gold currency function and the fluctuation of its price are always closely related to the international financial situation and the development of the world economy. .