When the gold market is open, and what happens at the weekend

How gold trades around the clock on weekdays

There is no single building where the world's gold changes hands. Trading is spread across several centres, and each one is busiest during its own working day. As one region winds down, the next is starting up, so the price keeps moving for most of the 24 hours.

Asia opens the day, with dealing in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and here in Singapore. London follows. It is still the heart of the physical gold trade, where the main daily benchmark gold price is set and where large Good Delivery bars move between banks. New York comes in later, and its gold futures market trades in very large volumes. Much of the dealing is electronic, between banks and institutions, so the market carries on even after a particular city has gone home.

• Asia: the first session of the trading day, overlapping with our Singapore working hours
• London: the centre of the physical bullion trade and home of the benchmark gold price
• New York: the big futures market, active through the Singapore evening and night

What the gold trading week looks like in Singapore time

Singapore sits early in the global day, so for us the trading week starts on Monday morning, before most offices here open. It ends in the early hours of Saturday, when New York finishes its Friday session. In between, apart from a short daily pause in the futures market, the price is live.

One detail catches people out. Singapore does not change its clocks, but London and New York do, for daylight saving. That means their opening times, in Singapore time, shift by an hour at certain points of the year. The broad shape stays the same: Asia during our day, London from our late afternoon, New York through our evening and night.

Holidays matter too. When London or New York is closed for a public holiday, trading carries on elsewhere but tends to be thinner. Christmas and New Year are quiet across the whole market.

Busy hours and quiet hours in the gold market

Some hours are much busier than others. The liveliest stretch is usually when London and New York are both open, which falls in our evening. More buyers and sellers are active then, and it is also when a lot of US economic data comes out.

The quiet patch is the gap after New York closes and before Asia is fully under way. With fewer people trading, the price can sit flat for a while, or now and then jump on one large order. None of this says where the price will go next. It just explains why the chart on our site can look calm at lunchtime and busy after dinner.

The forces behind those moves, such as interest rates, the US dollar and central bank buying, are a subject of their own. So is the exchange rate: gold is priced worldwide in US dollars, and you pay us in Singapore dollars, so a shift in the currency changes your price even when gold itself has not moved.

How our prices follow the world market during the week

Our selling price has two parts. One is the live world spot price, which moves through the trading day. The other is our premium, which covers the cost of producing and getting each product to you, and which we show openly on every product page.

So on a weekday, a 1 oz PAMP bar or a Maple Leaf coin can cost a different amount at 1pm than at 7pm, because spot has moved in between. The premium is the part that holds steady. If you want to know exactly when your price is locked in, whether you buy online and pay by PayNow or bank transfer, or at our counter at Centrium Square on Serangoon Road, just ask and we will explain.

Why we sell at the last closing price at the weekend

Once New York closes on Friday, there is no live world price to follow. Nothing is trading, so there is nothing new to quote. Our shop, though, opens on Saturday from 12pm to 8pm and on Sunday from 2pm to 8pm, and plenty of customers find the weekend easier.

Rather than make up a number, we sell at the last closing price from the world market, plus our usual premium. That closing level does not change over the weekend, so the spot part of the price is the same on Saturday afternoon as on Sunday evening.

The alternative would be guessing where Monday will open. That means either padding the price to cover ourselves or gambling on your behalf, and we would rather do neither. Selling to us at the weekend works a little differently: the final amount is set at the counter after testing, so message us first if you would like to know how that day's figure will be worked out.

When the market reopens on Monday morning

News does not stop for the weekend. An election result, a policy announcement or a swing in currencies can all land while the market is shut. When trading restarts early on Monday, Singapore time, the first price can be some way from Friday's close. Traders call this a gap.

Often the gap is tiny. Sometimes it is bigger. Either way, as soon as the world market reopens, our prices go back to following live spot and the weekend figure no longer applies. We can't tell you which way Monday will go, and nobody honestly can.

Checking live gold and silver prices on our site

Our market page at bullionking.sg/market shows live gold and silver prices and charts. On weekdays it moves with the world market. At the weekend it holds at the last close, which is a quick way to see that the market is shut.

Every product in our shop at bullionking.sg/shop shows its price with the premium already included. If you are watching a particular bar or coin, check the live page rather than a screenshot from this morning. On a weekday, a few hours can make a difference.