Today's AM fix was USD 1,580.00, EUR 1,287.06, and GBP 1,009.33 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,579.50, EUR 1,288.65 and GBP 1,012.57 per ounce.

Silver is trading at $27.55/oz, €22.51/oz and £17.54/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,429.20/oz, palladium at $580.80/oz and rhodium at $1,190/oz.

Gold dropped $4.40 or 0.28% in New York yesterday and closed at $1,577.70/oz. Gold investors in Asia bought on the dip pushing gold over $1,580/oz to $1,584/oz, then it dropped off and hovers at $1,580/oz at the open of European trading.

World Gold Reserves (Bloomberg)

Gold has gained this morning after two straight days of Bernanke testimony related slight losses and gold is testing resistance at the 50-day moving average at $1,586/oz.

US economic data showed the job market is still slow and the results of groundbreaking on new US homes rose in June at its fastest pace in the last 3 years, which saw risk appetite increase.

Today US unemployment claims are at 1230 and existing home sales at 1400.

Yesterday’s comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel sent the euro down and reignited Eurozone fears. "We have not yet shaped the European project so that we can be sure that everything will turn out well, we still have work to do," Merkel was quoted in a media report as saying. Spanish bond yields are hovering near 7% again.

The German chancellor also reiterated her belief that the euro will survive, saying she was "optimistic that we will succeed."

UBS have warned of the risk of hyperinflation in the UK and U.S.

China has proposed to broaden trading of precious metals in its local market in order to help China become a "major gold trading centre" (see News).

The Wall Street Journal was briefed about China's plans by "a person involved with the matter." The paper reports that "the move could increase liquidity and help Beijing gain stronger pricing power for key commodities like gold".

China is the largest consumer and now the largest producer of gold in the world and has aspirations to become a major gold trading center on a par with London and New York. China is also the fifth largest holder of gold reserves in the world after the U.S., Germany, France, Italy (see table).

Chinese officials have spoken of China’s aspirations to have gold reserves as large as the U.S. in order to help position the yuan or renminbi as a global reserve currency. Indeed, it would be only natural for China to aspire to have their currency become the global reserve currency in the long term.

In the longer term, being a major gold trading center would make China a more powerful financial and economic player and indeed could allow them to influence commodity and other important market prices. Indeed, Reuters reported that becoming a major gold trading center "would boost the country's clout in setting global prices".

The journal reports that “Beijing's tight grip on commodities trading and rigid capital controls are among the obstacles in the way.”

The move is also part of the broader financial reforms that Beijing has launched in recent weeks, loosening some of the restrictions on securities investment and allowing banks to price loans at cheaper rates than in the past, that seek to grant market forces a bigger role in both the economy and the capital market.

The moved proposed by market officials would expand trading of precious metals from designated exchanges to the country's vast interbank market, according to the person involved. The Shanghai Gold Exchange has released draft rules for such interbank precious metals trading, which will include spot, forward and swap contracts for the commodities, said the person.

At the moment, producers, consumers and investors can trade only spot and futures contracts in gold and silver on the Shanghai Gold Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange, respectively.

Due to limited membership on the two exchanges, many investors, including banks, aren't able to directly trade the precious metals on the exchanges.

The draft rules were jointly developed by the Shanghai Gold Exchange, which is the world's biggest marketplace for spot gold trading, and the China Foreign Exchange Trading System, a central bank subsidiary that oversees onshore currency trading.

According to the draft rules, the authorities are aiming to launch the interbank trading on Aug. 31, starting with gold contracts, said the person.

That would make gold the first commodity to trade on the interbank market.

The authorities will introduce a "market maker" system for the planned precious metals trading—the first time the system will be used to trade a commodity on the interbank market—with transactions done on an over-the-counter basis as compared to the exchange-based pricing mechanism.

Market makers are firms that stand ready to buy and sell a product at a publicly quoted price to facilitate trade.

An over-the-counter market would allow investors, in this case banks, to trade in large quantities that far exceed the Shanghai Gold Exchange's current trading volumes, analysts said.

According to the draft rules, banks are allowed to use the new precious metals contracts in the interbank market for proprietary trading only.

The Shanghai Gold Exchange is inviting banks, mostly members of the exchange, to submit applications to take part in the trading, said the person, who expects most major and midsize banks to participate.

The move to let banks become market makers also shows the authorities' desire to give such better-established and more sophisticated institutions more power in setting prices for major commodities, a common practice in developed markets, said Jiang Shu, senior precious metals analyst at Industrial Bank Co.

Current restrictions and capital controls remain an obstacle to China becoming major gold trading center and to the renminbi becoming an accepted global reserve currency.

The move by China to expand precious metals trading to their growingly important and vast interbank market is important and another step towards China becoming an economic power on the world stage and one that will rival European nations and the U.S.

Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)

NEWSWIRE
(Bloomberg) -- Crop Surge Sends Soybeans to Record as U.S. Drought Intensifies
Crop prices surged, with soybeans rising to a record, as the worst U.S. drought since 1956 scorched fields and raised chances of higher food prices.

Soybeans climbed as high as $16.445 a bushel today on the Chicago Board of Trade, surpassing the previous peak of $16.3675 on July 3, 2008. Corn rallied to the highest since 2008, trading within 1 percent of its all-time high, and wheat surged above $9 a bushel to the highest in almost four years.

The U.S. has declared almost 1,300 counties in 29 states as natural-disaster areas because of the drought. Corn and soybean fields are in the worst shape since 1988, a year when drought slashed the U.S. corn output by 31 percent, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. The USDA cut its estimate for this year’s corn harvest by 12 percent on July 11, saying production may reach 12.97 billion bushels. The agency had projected record output of 14.79 billion bushels in June.

“There is not going to be enough supply to go around,” said Richard Feltes, the vice president of research at R.J. O’Brien & Associates in Chicago. “The U.S. drought is laying the groundwork for higher food inflation into 2013.”

(Bloomberg) -- Silver ETP Holdings Jump to Highest Since May 2011
Holdings in exchange-traded products backed by silver jumped 141.09 metric tons, or 0.8 percent, to 17,886.48 tons, data tracked by Bloomberg showed. That’s the biggest gain since Jan. 19 and the highest level since May 4, 2011.

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NEWS
China Aims to Become Major Gold Trading Center – Wall Street Journal

Gold edges up on weak dollar, still lacks direction - Reuters

Reuters Poll: 2012 gold price forecasts cut further but still bullish - Reuters

Gold last hope for Sudan to prevent economic collapse – Financial Post

Deutsche Bank, HSBC Traders Investigated In Libor Probe - Bloomberg

COMMENTARY
Brodsky On Gold, 'Credit Money', And Real Return Investing – Zero Hedge

UBS: The Risk Of Hyperinflation Is Largest In The US And The UK – Business Insider

Taylor: Faith in gold as the ultimate money - Mineweb

Rule - The Physical Silver Market Is Getting Dangerously Tight - King World News

Mark O’Byrne

Goldcore