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Today’s AM fix was USD
1,735.75, EUR 1,365.44, and GBP 1,091.39 per ounce.
Friday’s AM fix was USD 1,732.75, EUR 1,362.23, and GBP 1,085.55 per
ounce.
Silver is trading at $32.65/oz, €25.80/oz and
£20.65/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,570.00/oz,
palladium at $610.60/oz and rhodium at $1,090/oz.
Gold Price Fixes/Rates Volumes – (Bloomberg)
Gold fell $1.80 or 0.10% in
New York on Friday and closed at $1,731.00. Silver hit a low of $32.057 and a
high of $32.775 but finished with a gain of 0.46%.
Gold is 0.25% higher this
morning after posting the biggest weekly gain (+3.3%) since late August on
safe haven buying driven by worries about the U.S. fiscal cliff and economy.
President Obama is meeting
with leaders this week and is expected to speak on the subject on Wednesday.
$600 billion in tax increases and budget cuts are set to start in January
which is making markets nervous and leading to diversification into gold.
Gold and especially silver
buying in India has been robust for the Indian Dhanteras
festival.
The Times of India reports
that high prices have “done little to mar the spirit of buyers who are
splurging on the yellow metal like never before. In fact, people were seen
queuing up in jewellery shops across the city to
buy gold, silver and other precious metals.”
White, not yellow, was the
preference this Dhanteras and there was “big
buys of silver on strong festive demand.” Dhanteras,
the 13th day of the Hindu calendar month of Ashwin,
is considered auspicious to buy precious metals.
The London Bullion Market
Association (LBMA) gold conference has begun in Hong Kong and already there
have been important stories with ramifications for the gold, currency and
wider markets.
There is a real possibility
of market moving stories coming from the gold industries leading conference.
News that China will
inevitably increase central bank purchases of gold for its reserves was
highlighted by the LBMA Chairman in Hong Kong.
Chairman of the LBMA David Gornall told the conference, “When comparing China
to the U.S., it would seem that in China, gold asset allocation can only go
in one direction. The country has only 2% of its reserves in the form of gold
compared with the U.S. at 75%.”
The People’s Bank of
China hasn’t disclosed any changes to its gold holdings since 2009,
when it said they had risen a whopping 76% to 1,054 metric tons. While the
U.S., Germany, Italy and France keep more than 70% of reserves in gold,
China’s share is less than 2%.
“Prices have recently
been supported by official sector buying,” Gornall
said today, without listing any central bank. “Will the gap between the
amount of gold held in reserve by the developing markets and that of the
developed world close?”
Brazil, South Korea and
Russia have all added gold reserves this year data from the International
Monetary Fund show. Nations bought 254.2 tons in the first six months and may
increase to 500 tons this year, the World Gold Council said in August,
exceeding the 456 tons added in 2011.
China has the world’s
largest foreign-exchange reserves, totaling $3.29 trillion in September,
according to data by Bloomberg.
“Emerging-market
economies from the G-20 countries are looking to elevate their gold
holdings,” Ashish Bhatia, manager of
government affairs at the producer-funded World Gold Council, said in an
interview in Hong Kong yesterday. There’s “renewed interest from
central banks on the demand side.”
U.S. holdings, the
world’s largest, totalled 8,133.5 tons, or
76.6% of reserves, according to the World Gold Council data for this month.
Germany, no. 2, had 3,395.5 tons, representing 73.9% of reserves, it said.
China’s gold represented 1.8% of its total reserves.
XAU/CNY Currency, 2 Years - (Bloomberg)
The Chairman and President
of the Shanghai Gold Exchange told the LBMA gathering that the Shanghai Gold
Exchange will launch an interbank market early next month that will initially
begin with spot contracts and will gradually offer forward contracts.
All banks trading on the
China Foreign Exchange Trading System and National International Funding
Centre will eventually be able to trade in the market, including foreign
banks, Wang Zhe, chairman and president of the
Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE).
This move may further enable
China to overtake India as the world’s biggest owner of gold.
According to the Hong Kong Census
Bureau, in September Chinese gross imports soared by 30% reverting to the
long-term trendline of 65 tons in gross imports per
month, and rising to a total of 69.7 tons. Year to date China has now
imported a very large 582 tons of gold, more than the official holdings of
India at 558 tons
According to Reuters
reporting from the LBMA, the People's Bank of China general director, Xie Duo, announced that the central bank has no specific
time frame on issuing more gold import licenses to banks, but is keen to
further open up the market to the international community.
China's Agricultural Bank, plans to launch trading of precious metals overseas
in the next year or two. China's Agricultural Bank competes with peers
including Industrial and Commercial Bank and China, China Construction Bank,
Bank of China and Bank of Communications, among others, in attracting retail
investors.
The bank sells physical gold
and silver, and offers a gold accumulation plan that allows investors to
contribute a small amount of money each month and take physical delivery
after a period of time.
XAU/INR Exchange Rate, 2 Years - (Bloomberg)
Marc Faber gave a great
presentation to the conference. He warned that a deflationary debt implosion
will come. Not a question of when - but problem is knowing
when.
He warned that Bernanke can
drop as many dollar bills into this room as he likes, but he can't know what
we will do with them. He said that QE may be boosting China rather than the
U.S.
He said that problem is not
just Bernanke but the Federal Reserve and that numerous US Fed members make
Mr. Bernanke "look like an inflation hawk."
Faber estimates inflation is
now 5-10% and is much higher than bogus official estimates. With his
customary wit, he said that 'only at the Fed don't they eat or drive.'
He remains bullish on
precious metals and told the conference that he "would rather be long precious
metals than industrial commodities."
For breaking news and
commentary on financial markets and gold, follow us on Twitter.
Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)
NEWSWIRE
(Bloomberg) -- India’s Gold Sales on Dhanteras
Seen 30% Higher From Year Ago
Sales of jewelry, coins were “very good” during Dhanteras yesterday, Mohit Kamboj, president of Bombay Bullion Association says by
phone.
People accept that gold is
the best commodity to invest in regardless of price levels: Kamboj
Demand may climb as much as
15% this quarter as festivals, price decline boost ornaments, coin, bar
sales, Rajesh Mehta, chairman of Rajesh Exports Ltd., said on Nov. 9. Dhanteras is considered by the majority Hindu population
as an auspicious day to buy the precious metal.
(Bloomberg) -- Gold ETF
Sales Not Going to Happen on Major Scale, Barrick
Says
People see gold as being a percentage of their portfolio and they want to
hold it for the long term, Jamie Sokalsky, CEO of Barrick, says in an interview in Hong Kong today.
“It seems to be a core
holding,” Sokalsky says. “It’s
sticky. It doesn’t have the characteristic of a speculative-type of
investment,” Sokalsky says. “I
don’t see a huge risk that there’s going to be a selloff in the
ETFs and it’s not in a bubble,” Sokalsky
says.
(Bloomberg) -- Bank of
America Sees Silver Averaging $39 an Ounce in 4Q 2013
“Easy monetary policy will be a substantial incentive for investors to
increase their precious metal holdings in 2013,” bank says in report
dated Nov. 9.
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