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Strong Thailand currency, the baht pressurised gold prices in the southeast Asian nation and trimmed its gold futures trade by 10 percent.
According to Thailand's leading gold brokerage firm, YLG Bullion & Futures, many investors are stuck and unable to sell their futures for the last three months.
Those entering the market now should invest only when physical gold prices are in the range of Bt18,000-Bt18,600 per baht weight, it said.
One baht is equal to 15.244 grams, or about half a troy ounce.
Although global gold prices have escalated, domestic prices in Thailand rose at a milder pace. Investors have switched from daily transactions to striking orders on alternate days, which reduced volume.
The baht gained more than 3 per cent against the dollar in August, thanks to higher interest rates, which drew new capital inflows.
Gold-futures investors will experience foreign-exchange risks, Because of the strong baht, the mini gold futures launched in August could not boost trading.
In the first eight months of this year, YLG executed 8,420 gold-futures contracts, mostly for retailers, gold shops and high-net-worth individuals, with an investment portfolio of Bt30 million.
The company is hopeful that once the Thailand Futures Exchange extends the gold-futures trading period some time in the first quarter of next year, turnover should rise accordingly.
Gold-futures trading in the past eight months were highly volatile in line with gold-price fluctuations. During the period, many factors affected gold prices, chiefly the economic indicators of the United States and European countries.
Late in June, gold prices hit a record high of $1,265 per ounce when the European crisis was at its peak. However, when authorities launched measures to ease the debt crisis, gold prices weakened to this year's new low of $1,155 per ounce.
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