Potential bullion buyers polled cite wealth protection, profit potential
Asian investors are more likely to buy gold in the next six months than their North American and European counterparts, a global survey found.

Research company Ipsos said a quarter of the 18,594 investors interviewed for its inaugural monthly survey said they were "somewhat or very likely" to invest in gold as a security or physical metal as opposed to jewelry in the next six months.

Among investors who said they would buy gold in the next six months, 47 percent said they would invest gold to protect their wealth, and 53 percent said they intended to profit from gold investments.

"When you have half of the people deciding to put forward their gold as speculation, and the other half deciding to put it in a defensive position, maybe that is just mirroring what's going on out there," said John Wright, Ipsos' senior vice president.

Meanwhile, at least one dealer in Asia reported strong buying patterns on Friday, before the U.S. released its grim GDP report.

"The market is very hot. There's plenty of physical demand and I can't meet the orders. It's from India, Indonesia and Thailand," said a physical dealer in Singapore. "Basically we are seeing buying from jewelers and investors from the Far East."

Asian buying will offer great support for gold prices, given the burgeoning populations of that region as well as the growing wealth in countries such as India and China, whose peoples are the world's largest gold consumers.