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Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD
1,664.00, EUR 1,246.16, and GBP 1,037.54 per ounce. Friday's AM fix was USD
1,655.75, EUR 1,245.86 and GBP 1,041.22 per ounce.
Silver is trading at $32.41/oz,
€24.29/oz and £20.21/oz. Platinum is
trading at $1,634.50/oz, palladium at $651.96/oz and rhodium at $1,350/oz.
Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)
Gold rose $8.10 or 0.49% in New York on Friday and
closed at $1,668.20/oz. Gold traded volatile in Asia with quick gains seen at
the open prior to determined selling which saw a drop to $1,663.77/oz in late Asian trading and European trading saw further
weakness.
Gold climbed towards $1,700 last week after the U.S.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke alluded to the possibility of more QE.
Gold continues to be guided by the currency markets.
The dollar index hit near a 1 month low last Friday and this plus weakness in
all major currencies is seeing gold supported close to the 200 day moving
averages.
Gold 1 Year – (Bloomberg)
Gold's short term technicals
remain poor after a lower monthly close in March (-6.4%) and the weekly close
below the 200 day moving average.
However, the technicals are
not uniformly bad as gold had a higher weekly close last week - rising 0.33%
for the week.
The higher quarterly close of a 6.7% gain in Q1, 2012
and 11 consecutive years of annual gains mean that the long term technicals remain favourable.
Gold’s still strong long term supply demand
fundamentals and the long term trend of rising gold prices remain a gold
buyer’s friend.
Jewellers in India, plan to suspend the longest nationwide
strike after the government said that it will delay the implementation of an
increase in excise duty on non-branded ornaments.
India’s gold imports will drop near 59% to about
125 tonnes in the 3 months through March as the tax
increases boost retail prices by more than 6%, Prithviraj
Kothari, president of the Bombay Bullion Association, said. That compares
with 306 tonnes imported a year earlier, according
to data from the World Gold Council.
The lack of Indian demand has almost certainly
contributed to recent weakness and the renewal of India demand in the coming
days should provide further support to gold.
BRICs Bank To Rival World Bank and IMF and Challenge
Dollar Dominance
Outgoing President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick,
after just three days ago dismissing the idea of a BRICs created, new global multi lateral bank, has come around and endorsed a BRICs
bank in an interview with the FT.
Zoellick had initially said that a BRICs bank and
potential rival to the western and U.S. dominated IMF and World Bank, would
be difficult to implement given competing BRIC interests.
He acknowledged that a BRICs bank was being created and
said that the World Bank supported such a bank. He said that not having
Russia and China as part of "the World Bank system" would be a
“mistake of historic proportions”.
Leaders of the BRICS nations meeting in India appear to
have made much progress in creating a new global bank as the emerging
economies seek to convert their growing economic might into collective
diplomatic influence.
The five countries now account for nearly 28% of the
global economy, a figure that is expected to continue to grow.
On Thursday morning, President Hu Jintao of China,
President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia , President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil,
President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh of India shook hands at the
start of the one day meeting in New Delhi.
 BRICS leaders, from left,
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff,
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, Chinese President Hu Jintao and South African President Jacob Zuma. Photo: AP
Top of the agenda was the creation of the grouping's
first institution, a so-called "BRICS Bank" that would fund
development projects and infrastructure in developing nations.
The initiative would allow the countries to pool
resources for infrastructure improvements, and could also be used in the
longer term as a vehicle for lending during global financial crises such as
the one in Europe, officials said.
Less noticed and commented upon is the aspirations of
the BRIC nations to become less dependent on the global reserve currency, the
dollar and to position their own currencies as internationally traded
currencies.
The leaders of BRIC nations and other emerging market
nations have adopted the idea of conducting trade between the five nations in
their own currencies. Two agreements, signed among the development banks of
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, say that local currency loans
will be made available for trade between these countries.
The five fast growing nations participating in local
currency trade will allow participants to diversify their foreign exchange
reserves, hedging against the growing risk of a euro or dollar crisis.
The BRICS want to have easy convertibility of currency
to make it easier to use the real, ruble, rupee, renminbi
and rand amongst themselves without having to always use the US dollar.
Higher intra-Brics trade, conducted in their own
currencies would shield their economies from economic dislocations in the
west.
In the long run, if global dependence and exposure to
the dollar is to be reduced, then the BRICs currencies will have to trade
amongst themselves, creating an intra Brics
currency market. This could lead to a special reserve BRICs currency that
could rival the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and in time a regional
currency could emerge. However, the EU's experience of a single currency may
make this less likely.
Left unsaid so far is the possibility that one of the
BRICs or the BRICs in unison might peg the value of their respective
currencies to the ultimate store of value and money - gold.
Having a gold standard enforces a form of fiscal self
or national control and does not allow any one nation to have an exorbitant
privilege in terms of monetary affairs that can be used in order to further
selfish national or national corporate or banking interests.
Having a new gold standard or even a quasi gold standard, as proposed by Zoellick
himself some months ago, would lead to the end of the greenback as the sole
global reserve currency.
This is likely an objective of some of the BRICs,
especially China and Russia, and has obvious ramifications which should
inform decisions regarding investments, savings and managing wealth in the
coming years.
Global diversification and owning the hard monetary
asset of gold has never been more important.
OTHER NEWS
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Mint March Gold-Coin Sales Rise to
Estimated 62,500 Ounces
Sales of gold coins by the U.S. Mint rose to an
estimated 62,500 ounces this month from 21,000 ounces in February, data on
the Mint’s website showed today.
Sales of silver coins climbed to 2.542 million ounce in
March from 1.49 million in February.
(Bloomberg) -- Gold Imports by India Plunge in March
After Industry Shutdown
Gold imports by India, the world’s biggest,
plunged in March after jewelers closed stores for more than two weeks to
protest against higher taxes, an industry group said.
Purchases may have been about 15 metric tons to 20 tons
last month, compared with 75 tons to 80 tons a year ago, Prithviraj
Kothari, president of the Bombay Bullion Association, said today by phone.
Second-quarter imports may slide to 150 tons, from 250 tons a year earlier,
he said.
India may buy about 700 tons to 800 tons of gold in
2012, Kothari said. That compares with record purchases last year of 969
tons, according to World Gold Council data.
(Bloomberg) -- India Raises Benchmark Import Price of
Gold to $539/10 Grams
India raised the benchmark price for imports of gold to
$539 per 10 grams from $530, according to a statement from the finance
ministry.
The benchmark price for imports of silver was cut to
$1,032 per kilogram, from $1,036, it said.
The benchmark prices are used to set the tax on
precious metals imports.
(Financial Times) -- Rush to scrap household gold and
silver is taking its toll on Birmingham jewellery
In a back room in Birmingham Nigel Blackburn is busy
smashing up pieces of Georgian silver in preparation for a "melt".
(Bloomberg) -- Gold Traders Increase Bets on Price
Rise, CFTC Data Shows
Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators
increased their net-long position in New York gold futures in the week ended
March 27, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 147,821 contracts on
the Comex division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange, the Washington-based commission said in its Commitments of Traders
report. Net-long positions rose by 16,358 contracts, or 12 percent, from a
week earlier.
Gold futures rose this week, gaining 0.4 percent to
$1,671.90 a troy ounce at today's close.
Miners, producers, jewelers and other commercial users
were net-short 185,076 contracts, an increase of 18,938 contracts, or 11
percent, from the previous week.
Each Friday the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for
long and short positions for speculators such as hedge funds and
institutional investors, as well as commercial companies that buy or sell
futures to protect against price moves. Analysts and investors follow changes
in speculators' positions because such transactions can reflect an
expectation of a change in prices.
(Bloomberg) -- Silver Traders Trim Bets on Price Rise,
CFTC Data Shows
Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators
decreased their net-long position in New York silver futures in the week
ended March 27, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data.
Speculative long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 18,655 contracts on
the Comex division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange, the Washington-based commission said in its Commitments of Traders
report. Net-long positions fell by 2,514 contracts, or 12 percent, from a
week earlier.
Silver futures rose this week, gaining 0.7 percent to
$32.48 a troy ounce at today's close.
Miners, producers, jewelers and other commercial users
were net-short 29,678 contracts, down 2,448 contracts, or 8 percent, from the
previous week.
Each Friday the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for
long and short positions for speculators such as hedge funds and
institutional investors, as well as commercial companies that buy or sell
futures to protect against price moves. Analysts and investors follow changes
in speculators' positions because such transactions can reflect an
expectation of a change in prices.
For breaking news and commentary on financial markets
and gold, follow us on Twitter.
NEWS
Reuters
Gold edges up, eyes on currency market
Business Week
S&P 500 Beating Gold Most Since 1999 on Positive
Earnings
The Street
Nations Put Pressure On Gold
MarketWatch
U.S. job growth seen tapering off slightly
Reuters
Analysis: Resistance to austerity stirs in southern
Europe
COMMENTARY
MarketWatch
Gold bugs think Q2 will bring new rebound
The Guardian
Gold rush: what happened to bling?
Zero Hedge
Niall Ferguson: Empires On The Edge Of Chaos - 10%
Of Portfolio Should
Be Held In Gold
You Tube
"What Does the Fed Do?" with James Grant
Zero Hedge
Jim Grant Crucifies The Fed; Explains Why A Gold
Standard Is The Best Option
Mark
O’Byrne
Goldcore
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