gold bull run set for 12th consecutive year - wgc - gold jewellery set

MILAN (Reuters)-
Despite the volatility, gold prices will continue to rise for 12 consecutive years, and investor demand may be stimulated by the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, a senior official of the World Gold Council (WGC)
Said Thursday.
"We believe this will be 12 years of a bull market by the end of this year," said Marcus Grubb, general manager of investment in the industry --
The funded WGC said at a press conference.
Gold has a close negative correlation with the dollar, and the strength of the dollar has pushed US commodity prices higher. S.
For holders of other currencies, the unit price is higher and the attractiveness of gold as an alternative asset is limited.
Gold has outperformed the euro so far this year
The single currency fell 3% against the euro, while gold rose 1. 5 percent -
The strength of the dollar affects prices to a large extent.
Grubb said that as the eurozone crisis unfolded and as Greece withdrew from the euro zone and other shocks, investors may rediscover the safe-haven value of gold.
"From the overall macro perspective. . .
We think there is a good chance that Greece will withdraw from the euro, and we don't think the euro will survive in the current structure, "Grubb told Reuters after the press conference.
Worries about eurozone debt pushed gold prices to record highs last year.
The European Central Bank has about 10,000 tons of gold reserves, but it is unlikely that they will sell gold or use it as collateral to bail out any country because of legal commitments. Grubb said the risk of such operations and a relatively small amount of gold reserves compared to the debt pile.
Grubb said that global gold demand is expected to remain stable in the first quarter of this year, and investment demand offset the weak demand in India, the world's major gold jewelry consumer.
"In terms of demand, this quarter looks like a stable quarter," he said, but declined to give accurate figures before the quarterly demand trend report that WGC will release next week.
In the first quarter of 2012, India's gold jewelry demand was weaker than in the same period of 2011, and this year may be affected by the slowdown in India's economic growth. in the past few months, India has adopted a series of fiscal tightening measures, the rupee continued to weaken against the dollar. S.
The dollar makes gold more expensive in the local market, he said.
This means that China's gold consumption in the last quarter of 2011 exceeded that of India, which could be the largest overall consumption in 2012, confirming WGC's earlier forecast, Grubb said.
In the first quarter, emerging countries' central banks continued to become net buyers of gold "at a good pace", while Europe and the United StatesS.
Central banks have not sold off, Grubb said.
He said that as WGC predicted in February, central banks are expected to buy about 400 tons of gold this year.