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Last Updated : 23 April 2012 at 15:35 IST
Trading Gold's trendlines- A technical strategy
MUMBAI (Commodity Online): Spot Gold has been in an uptrend since the past 3.5 years forming higher tops and higher bottoms within the trend channel R‐ S (shown in the chart at the bottom)However, it can be observed that since the past six months, the price has failed to breach the all‐ time high at $1920 level forming a lower high at $1800 level and lower bottom at $1522 (lower top & lower bottom pattern).
Since then the price has been consolidating in a broad range of $1520‐ $1800 levels forming a symmetrical triangle with resistance at trendline R1 and support at trendline S1. Price can be expected to breach the major support line S to the downside and head towards intermediate trendline support S1.
The 9‐ period RSI is also facing trendline resistance and is currently sustaining near the support line, a downside break of which would indicate bearishness. On the other hand, if the price succeeds in sustaining above trendline support S and gives an upside breach of resistance line R1, we could see the price rallying to a new all‐ time high level above $1920. However, unless the price breaches trendline resistance R1 at $1749 to the upside, a fall towards support line S1 at $1545‐ 1522 range could be expected.
Further the Indian price of gold is holding near higher levels because of Rs/$ weakening . In Rupee terms strong resistances is at Rs 29000 followed by Rs 29433 (life time high). On down side a close below Rs 28350 can trigger a sharp fall till Rs 27300 – Rs 27000 level
Source: Kotak Commodity Services ltd
Gold steady above $1,640 China data eyed
SINGAPORE, April 23 (Reuters) - Gold hovered near $1,640 an
ounce on Monday, after dropping 1 percent in the previous week,
as investors waited for data on China's manufacturing activities
which may help set the tone for financial markets.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was little changed at $1,641.40 an ounce
by 0023 GMT.
* U.S. gold traded nearly flat at $1,642.50.
* Investors will closely watch the flash China HSBC
manufacturing survey at 0230 GMT to gauge the conditions of the
world's second-largest economy.
* Leading world economies agreed to more than double the
lending power of the International Monetary Fund in a bid to
protect the global economy from the euro zone debt crisis.
* Meanwhile, global finance chiefs pressed Europe in weekend
talks to quickly put in place the economic reforms needed to
finally solve its debt crisis now that newly increased financial
buffers have bought some precious time.
* The Netherlands, a core euro zone member, was drawn into
Europe's debt crisis at the weekend when the government failed
to agree on budget cuts, making elections almost unavoidable and
casting doubt on its support for future euro zone measures.
* Money managers raised their net long positions in U.S.
gold futures and options in the week ended April 17, but cut
their net long bets in silver, said the U.S. Commodity Futures
Trading Commission.
MARKET NEWS
* The euro retreated from two-week highs against the dollar
on Monday, pausing after its best weekly performance since
February, while sterling clung on to its newfound
market-darling-status in the wake of upbeat UK retail sales
data.
* U.S. stocks mostly rose on Friday, led by solid earnings
from McDonald's, General Electric and Microsoft, but declines in
banks and technology shares pulled indexes from their day's
highs.
DATA/EVENTS
0230 China Markit Mfg Flash PMI Apr
0658 France Markit Mfg Flash PMI Apr
0728 Germany Markit Mfg Flash PMI Apr
0758 EZ Markit Mfg flash PMI Apr
It all started with “BARTER TRADE SYSTEM”: Long time ago the first trade was conducted via Barter. All goods were directly exchanged for all other goods. But this method had its own problems. If you want to swap your chicken for a loaf of bread, but baker happened to want firewood, you had a task to find someone with firewood who wanted to have chicken.
Then came the medium of gold exchange, under which everyone agreed to accept gold in return for whatever they were selling. This transition allowed the swapping of chickens for gold and then gold for anything else. The thing with gold was that it was indestructible and could be stored for the future. As gold also become the “Store Of Value” – if you had lots of chickens you could swap all of chickens for gold, spend only part of the gold on bread and keep a few gold for a rainy day.
Gold as a mode of money, created its own set of problems – Governments in financial troubles, would call back their gold coins, then melt it down and reform the same metal into more coins with lower gold content in it or mixing any other metal in it. For government, it generated a nice new stock of gold for conversion into coins. This is what called “Debasement of Currency”.
But debasement of currency became a huge problem and led to the development of certificates of gold deposits. Debasement & the larger monetary transaction required that the coins to be counted weighed and checked for its purity & authenticity. In addition to which there was constant problem of security, so this led to the development of the Gold Depository Banks whereby a group of merchants come together and formed Merchant Banks that would hold their gold securely at a central location. The quality of coin was checked, the depositor was issued with paper certificate of deposit. The certificate of deposit represented his holding of gold within the banks & the holder of this certificate was entitled to present the certificate back to the bank, who would on demand, exchange it for the same amount of gold coin originally deposited.
These banks soon realized that the owners of the gold rarely come back to collect it. As a result gold was lying idle with them most of the time. So, these bankers come up with a money making scheme of their own. These banker’s started issuing their own certificates of gold deposit and would lend those certificates to merchants. These merchants would use these new certificates to buy goods, which they would then sell on at a profit provided everything went well, the merchant could borrow the certificate, buy & sell the goods to make profit and repay the bank before anyone realized that the gold had left the vault which of course it never had.
Now, what this did was there were always more certificates of deposits in circulation than the gold in the vaults of banks. This in turn led to crisis situation during which individuals with these certificates landed up at the bank asking for their gold back. The trouble was that the bank did not have enough gold to make good against all the certificates it had issued. As this news spread, more people landed up leading to bank running, this soon led to a situation whereby a central bank was created which would fight financial instability. In return for the backing of the central bank, the commercial banks gave up their rights to issue their own gold depository certificates. From now on there would only be one type of depository certificates and these would be printed by the government, and be distributed through the central bank to the commercial banks. In addition, gold reserves of the commercial banks would be collected together at the central bank.
This created the concept of Currency Notes issued by the government. But what this also did was that it gave the government a monopoly on printing money. And unlike the kings of the earlier age, who had to call their gold coin back to debase them, now government could simply print more and more paper money as & when they deemed fit. And this right as we know has more or less been responsible for the current financial crisis.
IMPACT OF THE EVOLUTION OF MONEY: Let’s say US government prints $1 trillion and keeps it in its vaults, so then what would be the impact of this printing of money will be on the Inflation? The answer would be ZERO impact? Correct, simply because all the printed money is in the vault and does not enter into the economic systems…It is when the money enters the economic system which leads to a situation wherein more money chase the same or even fewer goods leading to price rise. At same time it is important how fast does money changes hands, meaning how fast people receive and then go out and spend this money. The faster they spend this money, more velocity money has and that in turn leads to a faster increase in prices & thus an increase in inflation.
SAFEGUARD FROM THE FINANCIAL CRISIS : When markets are erratic & at times unpredictable, then the wise thing to do is to step up exposure to an asset that would infuse a semblance of stability and strength to the portfolio. And the cleanest, simplest & most efficient way to do is to invest in GOLD ETF. Not to mention the fact that the rampant way in which countries are debasing their currencies, one cannot help feel that at the end of the day, bullion will be more valuable than billions.
BUY GOLD ETF's: There are new alternatives to invest in GOLD ETF’s -CLICK HERE , ETF’s – known as Exchange traded Funds which are listed on NSE. ETF just like any other mutual funds collects money and invest into the market. GOLD ETF’s collects funds and invests in GOLD. They buy gold physically – so the units are backed by 0.995 finesse gold. When you invest in GOLD ETF you are allotted a unit same as in mutual fund, here 1 unit of GOLD ETF can be 1 gm or 1/2 gm of gold depending on the funds – So Gold ETF are affordable. GOLD ETF’s trades like normal equity share on exchanges whose prices are in tandem with domestic gold price. If you dint have Demat account you still can invest in GOLD FUNDS like SBI GOLD FUND, Quantum Gold Saving Fund. You can also invest in these ETF in a Systematic Investment way (SIP) with as low as Rs. 500. JUST call your broker to buy GOLD ETF’s (List of listed ETF are mentioned below) or just visit your nearest bank and ask for GOLD FUND (if you don’t have trading account)
Last Updated : 21 April 2012 at 22:35 IST
Source :Commodity Online
Declines in Gold spec length may mean ‘firmer footing’ for market: Deutsche Bank
LONDON (Commodity Online): Past liquidation in speculative length in gold futures could mean a “substantially firmer footing” for the market, said Deutsche Bank in a weekly commodity research note.
“We believe central-bank diversification and Fed rhetoric are the most likely triggers for a fresh revival in the gold price,” the bank added.
Since July 2011, gold has been in a $1,600-$1,900 range 90% of the time, Deutsche Bank continued.
“The euphoric nature of the gold market last summer has given way to a more somber assessment as the market has contemplated the implications of a termination in quantitative easing by the Fed, a slow appreciation in the U.S. dollar and broad deleveraging across a number of safe havens such as gold and the Swiss franc,” Deutsche Bank continued.
“However, we are still maintaining our bullish outlook for the gold price. In recent weeks, financial markets are once again suffering from a new wave of risk aversion. Periphery European CDS spreads have hit fresh record highs as concerns towards global growth are resurfacing and deflationary concerns are building. In the past this would be ordinarily negative for gold and beneficial to the U.S. Treasury market. However, this time round we expect gold prices will be better supported,” Deutsche Bank concluded.
April 20, 2012 • 12:44:50 PDTwe are quite bullish for the gold price at the very moment as – apparently – another thrust to the upside has just start... Read More
By Brandi BrundidgeApril 20, 2012GOVERNMENTS COMMIT TO BOOST INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND There was little afternoon movement in Precious Metals prices, following the day’s trends. Gold’s price was stable throughout the day with the anticipation from investors of next week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting, along with this weekend’s International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings, which will outline the future of the eurozone debt crisis. “Silver, Platinum and Palladium are currently under pressure due to their industrial characteristics, but should also increase again over the course of the year,” Commerzbank said in a note.
Today, the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers came together and agreed to more than $430 billion in new money for the International Monetary Fund, which will defend the world economy from further debt issues in Europe. Mexican Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade commented on the decision to increase funds for the IMF, saying, “There was recognition that more needs to be done.”
At 5 p.m. (EDT), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:
- Gold - $1,644.10 - Up $2.20.
- Silver - $31.73 - Down $0.12.
Friday, April 20th 09:00 PM IST
Last Updated : 20 April 2012 at 19:05 IST
Source :Commodity Online
Expected easier Chinese monetary policy may boost Gold demand: HSBC
BEIJING (Commodity Online): Easier Chinese monetary policies may hold positive implications for gold prices, said HSBC precious-metals analyst Jim Steel.He cited that, a report from Xinhua news saying a central-bank official indicated that China will increase liquidity through open-market operations and will cut required reserves.
HSBC’s chief China economist, Qu Hongbin, expects China to cut its reserve-ratio requirement by 100 basis points and increase capital injections in open market operations in the second quarter of 2012.
Furthermore, he looks steps to be taken for additional easing through tax breaks for small companies and fiscal spending in the public sector. “Gold historically has performed well in an easy monetary policy environment,” Steel concluded.
Last Updated : 20 April 2012 at 19:35 IST
Gold to fall below $1600/oz and rebound to $1900/oz: Commerzbank
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Gold prices could see a temporary decline below $1600/oz due to its high correlation with risky assets, a latest report by Commerzbank says. Gold prices are then expected to rebound to $1900/oz by the end of 2012.
“In the short term, gold could come under further pressure as a result of the high correlation with the risky asset classes. Concerns about inflation and the high level of interest from the central banks could help gold to move back towards its all-time peak”, the report says
On silver, the bank expects that the current prices of $32/oz is likely to attract bargain buyers, which will keep investors interested in the metal. “The hybrid character of silver – store of value and participating in an economic upswing due to its mainly industrial use – should mean that this precious metal remains attractive and in demand”
Comex gold is currently trading around $1640/oz, up from about $1560/oz at the start of the year. Comex silver is meanwhile trading at $31.50/oz, up from $27.80/oz
By Ryan SchwimmerApril 20, 2012FRENCH ELECTION: WILL NEXT PRESIDENT PLAY NICE WITH GERMANY? Gold has extended gains from yesterday as investors are focused on a pivotal election in France. Incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy’s chances of being re-elected are dwindling, and many investors are afraid that his replacement could further hurt France’s troubled economy. While Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, leaders of the top two economies in the eurozone, worked together during the recent crisis, it is expected that Sarkozy’s replacement will not be so willing to work with Merkel.
The Gold price is tracking the value of the euro, which was boosted this morning by positive economic data out of Germany. BNP Paribas analyst Anne-Laure Tremblay said, “Sentiment for Gold is currently mixed, with lower perceived prospects for quantitative easing in the United States counterbalanced by ongoing safe haven demand, particularly in a context of renewed European sovereign debt concerns.” Citing another factor that is keeping the Gold price from climbing, she said, “Subdued physical demand from India in recent weeks is likely also weighing on the price.”
U.S.A. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has accused China of helping North Korea with its ballistic missile program. This would be in direct defiance of United Nations regulations, and China has denied any involvement. China and North Korea are allies, though the former did condemn the latter’s failed missile launch last week, at least publicly.
At 9 a.m. (EDT), the APMEX precious metals spot prices were:
- Gold - $1,644.00 - Up $2.10.
- Silver - $31.84 - Down $0.01.
Gold treads water euro zone worry, US data weigh
* Gold trades listless awaits direction
* Spot gold targets $1,611.80/oz - technicals
* Coming up: U.S. retail sales, March 0830 GMT
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, April 20 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Friday
in listless trading as persistent concerns about the euro zone's
finances and disappointing U.S. economic data data put off most
investors.
Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to $1,644.15 an ounce
by 0327 GMT, on course for a 0.9-percent weekly fall.
U.S. gold inched up 0.2 percent to $1,645.10.
Technical analysis suggested that spot gold could fall to
$1,611.80 an ounce during the day, said Reuters market analyst
Wang Tao.
Economists believe Spain and Italy will not need
international bailouts as they battle through their debt crises,
but investors remained worried, as evident in the rising yields
of the bonds Spain auctioned on Thursday.
Gold has fallen more than 1 percent so far this month, in
tandem with equities and other commodities, after markets
rallied in the first quarter on brighter global economic outlook
and prospects of accommodative monetary policy.
Gold prices have been trapped in a range of roughly between
$1,620 and $1,680 this month.
" Gold lacks its own momentum to move anywhere, and we are
waiting for the next major U.S. data, or a major development in
Europe," said Peter Tse, director at ScotiaMocatta in Hong Kong.
Tse said the presidential election in France, scheduled to
kick off on Sunday and which a Socialist president is expected
to win, could put pressure on the euro and trigger wild
fluctuations in share prices.
U.S jobs data The number of Americans claiming unemployment
benefit for the first time fell less than expected last week,
suggesting a slowdown in job creation and casting doubts about
the strength of the economic recovery.
Other data showed factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic
region slowed sharply this month and U.S. home resales fell for
a second month in March.
Investors are also closely watching the Federal Open Market
Committee meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday during which the
Federal Reserve is expected to adopt a wait-and-see approach
towards easing monetary policy, although the sluggish economic
data has kept up hopes for another round of quantitative easing.
Physical gold buying in Asia was sluggish, even as India
approaches a key gold-buying festival early next week.
" After the strike by Indian jewellers, we saw some buying at
the initial stage but there hasn't been much follow-up ever
since," said Tse, adding that a price drop to below $1,600 could
lure buyers back.
Spot silver was little changed at $31.74, headed for
a 0.9-percent weekly rise, its biggest one-week gain in nearly
two months.
Silver fabrication demand should climb 3 to 5 percent this
year as end-users replenish inventories that ran low late last
year due to an economic slowdown, but prices are unlikely to
test record highs as investor buying may remain subdued, said
the head of Thomson Reuters GFMS.
Last Updated : 19 April 2012 at 17:55 IST
Gold-S& P correlation is an aberration: WGC
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): The recent correlation between gold and S& P500 is just a short term aberration, the latest report by the World Gold Council (WGC) indicates.“Put simply, gold has not had a significant relationship with equities. The price of gold is driven by a unique set of factors, often quite at odds with those driving other assets, particularly equities. Infrequently these factors coincide, and also equally infrequently, equities and gold will move in the same direction, but not for the same reasons”, the report states
Over the past months, gold prices and the movement of S& P index has been correlated- something the analysts have attributed to the highly interlinked financial markets.
“While the short-term daily correlation between gold and the S& P 500 might indicate a slightly positive correlation in the recent period, long term correlations remain at or close to zero. In other words, the inclusion of the U.S. dollar as an explanatory variable to gold prices makes the S& P 500 beta insignificant”, the report adds.
As such, the WGC report seems to indicate that investors should take the current correlation between gold and equities just as a short term aberration and not as something important when considering a long term trading decision.
Gold Probes Lower Levels…Slowly
Daily Bars
Prepared by Jamie Saettele, CMT
“Price is testing a long term trendline that extends off of the 2008, 2010, and December 2011 lows. A break of such a well-defined trendline would signal a significant shift. The downside is favored below the April high of 1683.35.” A short term bear flag appears complete and price is pressured by the 20 day average. 1660/65 is now resistance.
By John FosterApril 19, 2012BULLION PRICES DIP IN EUROPE CLOCK TICKING ON BANK RULE Concerns over the American job market and questionable European debt pushed Gold to a fifth consecutive loss in European trading Thursday. Disappointing jobless data for the United States and fears over France’s debt rating pushed Wall Street down, and bullion was pulled down with it. Gold also has seen a drop in trading volume. “With the perception that the major economies of the world have their affairs under control, precious metals remain under some pressure,” said Carlos Perez-Santalla at PVM Futures. “The short term speculators do not recognize reasons for an upside move at a time when investment in metals is in a lull,” he said.
The clock has officially begun ticking for the Volcker rule, as the Federal Reserve confirmed that banksmust conform to its provisions by July 2014. The two year window is contingent upon “good faith” efforts to comply with bans on proprietary trading. Federal regulators have said, “During the conformance period, banking entities should engage in good faith planning efforts, appropriate for their activities and investments, to enable them to conform.” The regulators may also extend the compliance period if needed. The rule, named after former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, is intended to reduce the risk banks take with their own capital.
At 5 p.m. (EDT), the APMEX precious metals spot prices were:
- Gold - $1,643.50 - Up $3.40.
- Silver - $31.82 - Up $0.26.
IMO, gold has been way overbought . this asset has risen for the past 9 years , i think it's long overdue to drop. I will prefer corporate non financial bonds to go ,
Gold slides towards $1,630/oz as euro slips lower
* Euro, gold surrender gains after Spanish debt auction
* Markets cautious as yields rise on longer-dated paper
* Anglo American Platinum maintains 2012 output target (Releads, updates prices, adds comment)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, April 19 (Reuters) - Gold prices turned lower on Thursday, extending a four-day drop, with initial resilience after a widely-anticipated auction of Spanish debt giving way to selling as appetite for the euro and so-called higher-risk assets like commodities evaporated.
Spain sold all the bonds they wanted at auction on Thursday, but rising yields suggested concerns the government will not be able to tame its deficit were growing.
Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,634.89 an ounce at 1214 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for June delivery were down $3.50 an ounce at $1,636.10.
The precious metal was tracking losses in the euro, which fell 0.3 percent against the dollar, and stock markets, which traders said had also been hit by unconfirmed rumours that France's sovereign rating may be downgraded.
" Gold is moving in line with 'riskier' asset classes, and given higher risk aversion and growing uncertainty, prices are moving lower," Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said. " And since the dollar is stronger again today, that's also weighing on the price of gold."
Reasonable demand at a Spanish bond sale failed to soothe concerns about the sustainability of the country's debt. Worries about the euro zone helped lift gold last year, but they have since become negative for the precious metal as the dollar took precedence as the safe haven of choice.
Attention is now turning across the Atlantic, to a Federal Reserve meeting next week, at which policymakers will discuss U.S. monetary policy.
" (The euro zone debt crisis) is just one variable in the gold equation going forward," LGT Capital Management analyst Bayram Dincer said. " The other... is the Fed's upcoming meeting. That will be the next factor to determine the future direction for gold."
Gold traders are awaiting fresh clues on whether a third round of quantitative easing, which would keep interest rates, and consequently the opportunity cost of holding bullion, at rock-bottom levels, is on the cards.
Minutes from the Fed's March meeting released this month showed support thinning for further bond purchases.
GOLD STICKS TO RANGE
From a chart perspective, gold remains firmly in the $1,630-1,657 range it has held this week, lacking strong external drivers to break out.
Physical buying interest from the world's top two gold consumers, India and China, has been sluggish, even after a three-week strike by India's jewellers came to an end.
A break above the top of its current range could precipitate a rise towards $1,680/$1,690, analysts said, while decent support is seen near its April lows at $1,611 an ounce.
" We remain bearish gold so long as it trades below 1680, the last high," ScotiaMocatta said in a note late on Wednesday.
Silver was down 0.6 percent at $31.42 an ounce, while spot platinum was flat at $1,573.19 an ounce and spot palladium was 0.5 percent lower at $651.94 an ounce.
The gold:platinum ratio, which measures the number of gold ounces needed to buy an ounce of platinum, edged down to 1.04 on Thursday from the one-month high it hit earlier this week, as platinum clawed back some lost ground against the yellow metal.
Platinum, which is heavily exposed to the European car market, has struggled to overcome soft demand in recent years.
" We still favour gold," Standard Bank said in a monthly report. " We see $1,630 and $1,600 as good levels to establish a long position for a move higher. Physical demand for gold in Asia is strong below $1,650."
" From a cost-of-production perspective, platinum provides value between $1,600 and $1,550," it added. " The platinum market has tightened up after the recent strike at an Impala Platinum mine in South Africa. However, we believe that industrial demand will remain absent above $1,750 - and this should cap upside." (Editing by William Hardy)
By Ryan SchwimmerApril 19, 2012EUROZONE CONCERNS WEIGH ON EURO, OIL, GOLD Gold and Silver prices are down slightly this morning, thanks to falling oil prices and a stronger United States dollar. Earnings reports are giving U.S.A. stock futures a boost, with many major companies coming in ahead of expectations. David Morrison of GFT Markets wrote, “This news is overshadowing any concerns that investors have over Europe and the ambiguous economic data now emerging from the U.S. and China.” However, the boost in stock futures was lessened by disappointing jobless claims numbers, which remain at a four month high.
Spain and France held bond auctions this morning, with both countries hitting their goals. There is talk that France may be facing another credit downgrade just months after the country lost its AAA rating. The euro is taking a hit with all the concern in the eurozone now, which seems to be keeping the Gold price from moving higher.
There are concerns in Europe that bank balance sheets could contract by 2 trillion euros in the near future, potentially hampering growth and the economic recovery. The International Monetary Fund warned eurozone banks that such things could be a result of “synchronized and large scale deleveraging.” The IMF’s José Viñals said, “The key is to recapitalize, restructure, and resolve. … Such an external shock could combine with homegrown vulnerabilities and further undermine global stability.”
At 9 a.m. (EDT), the APMEX precious metals spot prices were:
- Gold - $1,637.50 - Down $2.70.
- Silver - $31.46 - Down $0.09.
Gold stable after 4-day losing streak on Spain woes
SINGAPORE, April 19 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on
Thursday, after posting its fourth straight session of losses as
worries about Spain's debt problems weighed on the euro and the
appetite for risk, with investors focusing on a key Spanish debt
auction later in the day.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was little changed at $1,641.19 an ounce
by 0034 GMT.
* U.S. gold gained 0.2 percent to $1,642.30.
* Concerns about Spain's finances and banking sector pushed
up safe-haven U.S. Treasuries and German Bunds, ahead of a debt
auction in Madrid later in the day.
* Spain should take a rise in its bond yields as a spur to
tackle the root causes of its debt woes, not look to the
European Central Bank to help by buying its bonds, ECB policy
maker Jens Weidmann said.
* China's central bank has pledged to increase reverse repo
operations and cut the reserve requirement ratio to increase
liquidity supply " at an appropriate time" , said the official
Xinhua News Agency.
* South African miner Gold Fields, the world's No.
4 gold producer, increased the initial investment for its
Peruvian Chucapaca project to $1.2 billion, the company's vice
president for South America told Reuters on Wednesday.
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks slipped on Wednesday, a day after Wall
Street's best gains in a month, as uninspiring earnings from
tech bellwethers IBM and Intel gave investors a
reason to take profits.
* Commodity currencies received a shot in the arm on
Thursday on hopes China will soon ease policy, while the euro
looked set to stay subdued as debt-laden Spain prepares to raise
more money in the bond market.
DATA/EVENTS
0800 Italy Industrial orders, sales Feb
1230 U.S. Jobless claims Weekly
1400 U.S. Existing home sales Mar
1400 EZ Consumer confidence April
1400 U.S. Phil. Fed business activity index April
by Brandi Brundidge April 18, 2012
ANALYST SEES MARKET AS ‘ACCIDENT PRONE’
Precious metals prices remained down across the board, following morning and midday trends. Asia’s physical demand for Gold is down now. James Steel, chief commodity analyst at HSBC, said, “The lack of physical demand in Asia was an issue. We haven’t seen India come back heavily after the end of the jeweler strike. And volume was low, so
it doesn’t take a great deal of selling to move the market.”
Citigroup’s chief U.S.A. equity strategist Tobias Levkovich spoke to CNBC today about his
skepticism on the stock market and how the market has been reacting to news. Levkovich said, “Apparently we resolved all of Europe, the U.S. has no fiscal cliff, China — hard landing, soft landing — settled. Iran, no issues to worry about. That was kind of extreme the other way. You’re putting yourself at more risk. I refer to the market right now as being somewhat accident prone.” Levkovich said he was concerned for companies in the June quarter.
As the time nears for one of India’s largest Gold buying festivals, the Akshaya Tritiya festival, the Indian government’s postal department is preparing for the small investors that will purchase through the postal department. Buying Gold is very popular in India and ultimately symbolizes wealth and prosperity. Traders said
high sales were a sign that the yellow metal was gaining acceptance as an ideal investment in the world’s biggest Gold consuming nation.
At 5 p.m. (EDT), the APMEX precious metals spot prices were:
- Gold - $1,643.50 - Down $8.10.
- Silver - $31.65 - Down $0.09.
