Gold price fluctuations intensify, and many banks have added deposit pending orders

Against the background of high-frequency fluctuations in gold prices, bank gold accumulation business is undergoing a round of upgrades.

A reporter from the "Daily Economic News" (hereinafter referred to as a reporter from "Daily Economic News") noticed that on November 9, China CITIC Bank issued an announcement stating that the bank expects to launch the accumulation order function from November 16 to support purchase and redemption entrustment orders. This is also another bank that has launched the accumulation fund pending order service after China Construction Bank, Industrial Bank, and Bank of Nanjing.

Pending orders make up for shortcomings in trading flexibility

The gold accumulation business is a gold investment business in which banks provide gold accumulation quotations and customers actively purchase, or buy a share of the accumulation gold at an agreed time, amount or weight.

Every reporter learned that the mainstream trading method of bank deposits was to watch the market and place real-time orders or make regular fixed investment. Investors either bought immediately during the market or set up fixed investment plans.

It is worth noting that as gold prices continue to fluctuate, many banks have previously launched the night trading function for accumulated gold, extending the transaction deadline to 02:00, covering periods when international gold prices are more volatile.

Take China CITIC Bank as an example. On March 10 this year, the bank issued the "Announcement on the Adjustment of the Trading Hours of China CITIC Bank's Accumulated Gold Business." Starting from March 16, 2026, the trading hours of the accumulated gold business will be adjusted from 09:00~23:30 on the Shanghai Gold Exchange trading day to 09:00~02:00 the next day on the Shanghai Gold Exchange trading day (except for national statutory holidays or special closing times of the Shanghai Gold Exchange, this adjustment is a trial operation).

The original real-time ordering and fixed investment models still have obvious limitations: real-time ordering requires investors to keep an eye on the market, and even if the trading hours are extended to the early morning, it is difficult for investors to keep an eye on the market around the clock; while fixed investment only invests in a fixed period and cannot independently capture the target price. Against this background, in order to facilitate the transactions of investors who want to buy and sell gold in a timely manner at psychologically expected prices, many banks have launched accumulation order services.

Specifically, the accumulation order is essentially a limit order mechanism. Customers can preset the conditions of "automatic buying below X yuan/gram" or "automatic selling above Y yuan/gram" in the bank App (application). The system will automatically try to complete the transaction when the price conditions are met during market monitoring. If the available funds in the account are insufficient when the buy pending order is triggered, the order will not be executed.

In addition to CITIC Bank, reporters have noticed that many banks have launched similar services before. For example, Industrial Bank launched the function of purchasing and redeeming accumulation funds pending orders on June 8 this year; Bank of Nanjing launched the function of entrusting accumulation funds pending orders on October 26 this year.

Industry: Pending orders are neutral tools

Behind the continuous "replenishment" of the gold accumulation function of commercial banks is the ever-changing international gold market.

Taking international spot gold (London gold) as an example, the price of gold fell rapidly after rising above US$4,500 per ounce at the end of August, and once fell to around US$3,900 per ounce in early November. On November 4, the price of gold experienced a strong rebound, with a single-day increase of 3.34%, and then the price rose back to the US$4,100 per ounce level.

Every reporter noticed that the purchase groups of accumulated funds are mainly bank retail customers and ordinary individual investors. For gold accumulation customers who have just obtained the "conditional order" tool, the convenience of the tool does not change the volatile nature of gold investment. The pending order function not only reduces the cost of tracking, but also tests the user's ability to judge the price range. "The pending order itself is a neutral tool for progress." said Bai Wenxi, vice chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance.

Yuan Zheng, a precious metals researcher at Galaxy Futures, said that after experiencing a "roller coaster" market, the current gold market is generally in a volatile range of high volatility and long-short games. The macro background of the previous upward trend is currently difficult to replicate, and it is difficult for non-professional investors to participate in gold market transactions.

Yuan Zheng pointed out that in terms of accumulation investment strategy, it is recommended to focus on light positions. In an environment where volatility rises sharply, it is easy to buy at the tail end of a short-term rebound by mechanically placing heavy positions at one time. A more reliable way is to make fixed investments on a monthly or quarterly basis, widening the intervals between replenishment positions, and avoiding frequent operations by staring at the market every day, which will lead to handling fees and price differences eroding profits. "Ordinary investors need to accept the fact that 'accumulated gold is not suitable for short-term' mentally. The current long-short game is fierce and the intraday volatility is significantly amplified. Even if the market still has long-term bullish logic for the future of gold, it is difficult to get out of the trend market in the short term."