SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Three of China's major
state-owned banks announced on Friday they will suspend the
opening of new accounts for their precious metal investment
products from Saturday amid increased volatility in global and
domestic precious metal prices.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
said in a notice on its website it would suspend the opening of
new individual gold, silver and other precious metal investment
trading accounts from Saturday via all channels, including
over-the-counter and online or mobile banking.
"Affected by the global epidemic situation and the
international political and economic situation, international
and domestic precious metals price continued to show volatility,
market risks and uncertainties increased," ICBC said.
Bank of Communications and China Construction
Bank also suspended new account openings for their
precious metal trading and investment products from noon on
Saturday and from Monday, respectively.
The banks warned investors to pay attention to market and
volatility risks and to manage trading and conduct investment
transactions prudently and rationally, according to statements
released on Friday.
Spot gold prices began sliding after Nov. 9 as news
of the first successful, late-stage novel coronavirus vaccine
trial prompted investors to dump safe-haven bullion and flock to
riskier assets. They are down nearly 4% this month.
Bank of China and Bank of Communications in early November
had already warned investors they could restrict trading of
their precious metal and foreign exchange products if the U.S.
presidential election on Nov. 3 fueled market volatility.
(Reporting by Emily Chow and Zoey Zhang
Editing by Robert Birsel)