Gold Trader Hiring Frenzy | Pay Soars as Bullion Booms

Trading houses, hedge funds and banks are on a hiring spree for specialist gold traders as interest in the metal soars, creating a battle for talent that is driving up pay packages in what has historically been a niche market. Major commodity traders Trafigura Group and Gunvor Group have brought in teams of precious-metals traders this year, while rivals IXM and Mercuria Energy Group have also been looking to hire in the sector, according to people familiar with the matter. Numerous hedge funds, banks and industrial companies like refiners are also either trying to break into precious metals or expand their teams, headhunters and industry executives said. Bloomberg's metals and mining reporter Sybilla Gross joins Stephen Carroll to discuss the details.

Gold slid below $4,000 an ounce, extending losses from the worst rout in over a decade as progress on a US-China trade deal sapped haven demand.

Spot gold fell as much as 3.2% below $3,990 an ounce, following last week’s abrupt halt to rapid advances on concerns the record-breaking rally had run too far. Chinese and US trade negotiators have lined up an array of diplomatic wins for President Donald Trump and counterpart Xi Jinping to unveil at a summit this week. A trade agreement between the world’s two biggest economies may ease some of the economic risks and geopolitical tensions that have bolstered the precious metal.

A blistering rally that propelled gold to a record high just above $4,380 an ounce last Monday has since gone into reverse on signs the metal had become overbought. The so-called debasement trade and bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts had been the recent drivers of gains, bringing in retail speculators that helped send prices to overbought territory. Gold is still up by more than 50% this year, underpinned by strong buying from global central banks.

“Gold is going through a long overdue correction, with the driver today being the positive noise on the trade talk front,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank. “We may have seen the high for the year as a deeper correction may take longer to recover from as traders turn a bit more cautious, and the stock market continues higher.”

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