[Anchor]
It is time for "Friendly Economy" on Thursday. Reporter Han Jiyeon is here with us. Han, we are hearing that gold ETFs have been selling well this month.
[Reporter]
Retail investors, who sold 30 billion won worth of physical gold ETFs in mid-October, shifted back to net buying starting in late October.
You must have frequently heard lately that gold prices have dropped significantly, making even buying a single gold ring for a baby's first birthday feel daunting.
A don (3.75 grams) of gold, which was priced at 530,000 won early last year, nearly doubled in a year and surpassed 1 million won in January of this year.
However, it dropped to 747,000 won yesterday (November 4).
International gold prices have also plunged more than 30 percent from their peak at the end of January, and last month marked the worst October since the 2008 financial crisis.
As expectations grew that U.S. interest rates could rise further, non-yielding gold lost its momentum.
Yet, amidst this trend, retail investors have made their move.
Gold spot ETFs track gold prices directly and can be bought and sold like stocks.
Investors bought more than 12 billion won worth of ACE and TIGER gold spot ETFs in the first week of last month, but heavily sold them off in the middle of the month.
They then turned back to buying. Despite a monthly return rate in the minus 6 percent range for last month, they poured nearly 3 billion won into these funds over just two days this month.
In contrast, overseas hedge funds have reduced their net long positions in gold for nine consecutive weeks, showing that retail investors are moving in the opposite direction.
Physical gold is also performing strongly.
The five major commercial banks sold 29.1 billion won worth of gold bars in September alone, which is more than triple their usual monthly sales volume.
[Anchor]
Indeed. People are choosing gold even though government bonds, which are considered safe assets, are offering high yields these days.
[Reporter]
The perception that prices have fallen as much as they can, coupled with continuous purchases by heavyweights like central banks, appears to have had an impact.
You have probably heard the advice to buy when prices drop.
The idea is to "scoop up" assets while they are cheap.
And it is not just retail investors doing this.
Just how much are central banks, which guard national coffers, buying?
According to Goldman Sachs' analysis, they have purchased an average of 91 tons per month over the past three months, which is more than five times higher than before 2022.
This appears to be part of a move to diversify foreign reserves away from relying solely on the U.S. dollar.
Even amid fluctuating gold prices, China continued to buy gold for 23 consecutive months through September.
South Korea's central bank, the Bank of Korea, was also found to have newly added U.S. market gold ETFs—which it did not hold in the first quarter—though not in the form of physical gold.
Looking globally, $31 billion flowed into gold ETFs in the third quarter, marking a record high for any single quarter.
This indicates that demand to buy with a long-term view persists even as gold prices fall.
Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, viewed prices around $4,000 as an opportunity to acquire more gold, while Goldman Sachs maintains its end-of-next-year forecast at $5,400 per ounce.
However, warnings are also being raised that prices could fluctuate further in the near term.
Furthermore, if you are dealing in physical gold, there is another factor you must consider.
As of yesterday, there was a difference of as much as 111,000 won per don between the buying price and the selling price.
If you bought a don at high prices earlier this year and sold it yesterday, you would receive over 360,000 won less.
[Anchor]
Lastly, it seems Mercedes-Benz did something wrong.
[Reporter]
Mercedes-Benz Korea failed to properly inform customers about its battery manufacturers, leading to a mediation decision requiring the company to compensate vehicle owners 4.0 million won per person depending on their level of awareness.
When buying a car, people generally trust and rely on the dealer's explanation.
This decision was made by the Consumer Dispute Mediation Committee under the Korea Consumer Agency.
The subjects are 142 individuals who purchased five vehicle models, including the EQE and EQS.
Some of these vehicles were equipped with batteries from China's Farasis Energy, but the sales guidelines distributed by Mercedes-Benz Korea to its dealerships omitted this fact, listing only batteries from CATL, another Chinese company.
The company even conducted staff training based on these guidelines to facilitate sales.
Therefore, the issue is not that the batteries are Chinese, but rather that customers were not properly informed about which batteries were installed.
Batteries are core components that influence performance, safety, and even vehicle value.
The two companies also differ significantly in terms of market share and brand recognition.
In particular, many remember the Cheongna apartment underground parking lot fire in Incheon in 2024.
The fallout created a negative public perception of Farasis batteries, and the possibility that owners might not fetch fair market value when reselling their cars was factored into the compensation amount.
In March, the Fair Trade Commission also imposed a 112 billion won fine on Mercedes-Benz Korea and its German headquarters while referring them to prosecutors.
Now, the ball is in Mercedes' court.
If neither party rejects the decision within 15 days of receiving the notice of mediation, the settlement will be established.
Should that happen, procedures will be implemented to ensure that vehicle owners who did not apply for mediation can also receive the same compensation.
If you are an affected vehicle owner, you will need to keep a close eye on Mercedes' response.
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