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Today’s
AM fix was USD 1,693.00, EUR 1,295.14, and GBP 1,050.77 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,703.00, EUR 1,300.79, and GBP 1,057.90 per
ounce.
Silver is
trading at $32.73/oz, €25.15/oz and £20.40/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,586.00/oz, palladium at $680.00/oz and
rhodium at $1,045/oz.
Gold fell
$3.10 or 0.18% in New York yesterday and closed at $1,693.60/oz. Silver
climbed to $33.24 then slid to $32.51, but finished after an afternoon rally
with a loss of 0.33%.
Gold inched
down on Thursday, near the monthly low reached in the prior session under
pressure from a stronger greenback as players await the European Central Bank
rate decision at 1245 GMT and US Initial Jobless Claims at 1330 GMT.
Physical
buying of gold bullion has increased on the dip, particularly in Asia, and
many are seeing these levels as a floor for prices.
The massive
consolidation seen in the last 16 months means that gold and silver are now
right on their long term moving averages (See charts showing 100, 200 and 365
daily moving averages)
Gold will
revisit its record breaking form of the past four years in 2013 after gains
were tempered this year by reduced jewelry demand.
 
Bloomberg Chart of the Day – Gold Poised For 12th Consecutive
Gain
Bloomberg's
'CHART OF THE DAY' shows gold climbed to records every year since 2008 until
this year, with the all-time high still the $1,921.15 an ounce set in
September 2011.
Gold has consolidated
on previous years gains this year and has risen another 8.2% so far in 2012.
Gold bullion will average a record $1,925
in the fourth quarter next year, the median of 16 analyst estimates compiled
by Bloomberg last month show. This would be a return of 13% in 2013.
The Federal
Reserve said Oct. 24 it will maintain $40 billion in monthly purchases of
mortgage debt and probably hold interest rates near zero until mid-2015.
Gold rose 70%
as the Fed bought $2.3 trillion of debt in two rounds of monetary easing from
December 2008 through June 2011. The Bank of Japan and the European Central
Bank have pledged more action and China has approved a $158 billion
subways-to-roads construction plan.
European
peoples struggle while their governments rack up huge debts and then force
unbearable austerity measures on them, as they continue to cheapen the value
of the single currency’s purchasing power. With little to no extra cash
to spend consumers can’t organically put extra money in their
struggling economies.
In nearly the
4th year of the European debt crisis, it doesn’t take a rocket
scientist to figure out that the current policies are not working. People are
beginning to look at gold and silver as safer stores of value than paper and
electronic currencies.
Gold Spot $/oz, 2007-2012 – (Bloomberg)
Gold bullion
is becoming many central banks safe haven again and it will again become the
public’s safe haven of choice in the coming years.
Investors,
hedge funds and institutions boosted assets in gold-backed exchange-traded
products to a record this year, holding more than the official reserves of
every nation except the U.S. and Germany. Investors held a record 2,627
metric tons in gold ETPs on December 4, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Gold jewelry
demand slumped 9.8% in the first nine months this year, World Gold Council
data show.
Importantly,
gold has yet to exceed previous records when adjusted for inflation, with its
1980 peak of $850 equal to $2,398 today, data compiled by the Federal Reserve
Bank of Minneapolis show.
This puts gold
rise in price in recent years in context.
Silver To
Outperform Gold In 2013 – Morgan Stanley
Gold and silver remain Morgan Stanley’s ‘top picks’ for
2013. Morgan Stanley maintains its long standing recommendation to be
overweight precious metals, analysts including Peter Richardson write in a
report according to Bloomberg.
Morgan Stanley
said the yellow metal may average $1,853/oz in 2013
– for a return of 9.5%.
Silver Spot $/oz, 2007-2012 –
(Bloomberg)
Gold
investment demand will remain strong against weaker USD, low real interest
rates, central bank buying, enhanced geopolitical uncertainty.
Silver more
volatile but cheaper safe-haven play than gold; expect silver to outperform
gold in 2013.
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