Japan to list first gold ETF

Japan's first exchange-traded gold fund (ETF) is due to be listed next month by the Osaka Securities Exchange.

First listed in Australia, ETFs are now traded in countries including the US, the UK, India and South Africa. They allow for simpler access to gold, which has enjoyed a significant surge in price over the past months.

The Japanese fund will be managed by Nomura Holdings and will be listed on August 10th, Bloomberg reports. Minimum trading lots will be ten grams of bullion.

Kazuhiko Saito of Interes Capital Management said: "Introduction of a gold ETF will revitalize gold trade."

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange has also launched "mini" gold futures based on units of 100 grams of gold.

Spokesman Seiki Ichimura commented: "We made a very good start on the first day of 'mini' gold trading. With the introduction of the gold ETF, we hope investors will pay more interest to gold trade."