Hong Kong residents snap up silver as gold becomes 'too expensive'

Retiree Ken Wong, 65, began queueing at the precious metals shop Lee Cheong at around 5 a.m. and managed to buy five bars. He told AFP that buying silver offered him the chance to invest in a safe-haven asset quickly on the rise, whereas gold has become "too expensive". Geopolitical tensions and rising inflation have driven the surge in precious metals investments, Samuel Tse, an economist at DBS Bank, told AFP. "Central banks are now diversifying their portfolio to gold," Tse said, with "retail and institutional investors... allocating more assets into precious metals." He told AFP that he purchased gold bars as it holds its value better.