What Is Gold Fixing?

The primary way that the gold price is determined as a worldwide standard, each day, is the London Gold Fixing procedure.

When you see a gold chart that is labelled London Gold Fix, what does that mean?  At 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. (London time), the five members of The London Gold Market Fixing Ltd. have a telephone conference call to determine the price of gold at that moment based upon supply and demand.  

While this is done with the intention of settling contracts between members of the London bullion market (a wholesale over-the-counter market for trading gold and silver), it is also the standard measurement for pricing gold products and derivatives throughout the world’s markets.

Gold prices are fixed in United States dollars (USD), Pound sterling (GBP), and European euros (EUR).  The London PM fix, which is done when the U.S. markets open, is considered to be the primary reference price for the day, and is the price used most often in contracts.

The members of The London Gold Market Fixing Ltd. are also members of the London Bullion Market Association.  Currently, they include: Barclays Capital, Scotia-Mocatta, Société Générale, HSBC, and Deutsche Bank. 

The London Gold Fixing tradition began September 12, 1919.  It was suspended from 1939 to 1954.  It has been done via telephone conferencing since May 5, 2004.  When they used to meet in person, a member could raise a small Union Flag on the desk to pause proceedings.  The committee chairperson ended the meeting with the phrase, “There are no flags, and we’re fixed.”  Now that it’s done by phone, a pause can be registered by the member saying the word “flag.”    

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What Is the Difference between a Spot Gold Price and a Gold Fix Price? | Gemologist Sam


[...] is a spot price and why is it sometimes different from the London Gold Fix [...]

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