| 10/27/2023 9:30 AM Current Market Spot Prices: | Gold: $1,984.26/ozt | Silver: $22.89/ozt | Platinum: $926.20/ozt | Palladium: $1,168.05/ozt |
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
The Currency of Gold is Finding its Anchor
www.kmggold.com After declining 1.90% last week, the U.S. Comex gold futures dropped another one percent week-to-Tuesday to $1,281.10. The price rebounded 0.30 percent during Asia Wednesday morning.
The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.79% this week while the Euro Stoxx 50 index jumped 1.39%. So far in April, the European stocks were up 1.46%, the U.S. stocks were up 0.48% while the U.S. gold futures were down 0.18%. The U.S. ten-year government bond yield hovers around 2.71% this week, almost no change from the level at the end of March.
Dampening U.S. Housing Recovery and Subdue Chinese Data
The February U.S. housing prices increased 6.9% year-on-year, the lowest rate of increase since January last year. The sales of existing homes fell to 4.59 million in March compared to a recent peak of 5.38 million in July 2013.
Housing prices have risen as the bad winter weather has limited the supply of houses. Prices have risen faster than wages, dampening the housing recovery.
However, the U.S. economic outlook in the next three to six months unexpectedly jumped 0.8% in March compared to 0.5% in February. In China, the flash HSBC manufacturing PMI remained in a contraction mode at 48.3 in April. The slowdown in China has led the government to announce more infrastructure spending and tax relief as well as a cut of the reserve requirement ratio by two percent for some rural banks.
The Changing Nature of Commodity Trading
Barclays, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley have all pulled back their global commodities trading activities as regulators have tightened up trading rules for banks and raised their trading costs.
Trading revenue also fell by 18% in 2013 for the top ten banks to $4.5 billion compared to $14.1 billion in 2008 based on Coalition's estimates. These banks are also consolidating their gold trading with their foreign exchange trading in electronic trading platforms as both markets are liquid and are heavily influenced by macroeconomic policies, interest rates, and inflation.
Speculators' Positioning
Managed money's net combined gold positions fell for four consecutive weeks to 90,137 contracts as of 15 April, led by a 15% jump in the short positions. The gold-backed ETP holdings fell to a recent low of 1,735 metric tons, down from a recent peak of 1,769 metric tons a month ago.
In the short-run, the renewed tension between Ukraine and Russia on the militants in Eastern Ukraine will help boost gold prices. In the longer-run, the rising household demand in China for gold bars, coins, and jewelleries and a possible reduction in gold's import duty in India will put a solid floor to gold prices. www.kmggold.com
The S&P 500 Index climbed 0.79% this week while the Euro Stoxx 50 index jumped 1.39%. So far in April, the European stocks were up 1.46%, the U.S. stocks were up 0.48% while the U.S. gold futures were down 0.18%. The U.S. ten-year government bond yield hovers around 2.71% this week, almost no change from the level at the end of March.
Dampening U.S. Housing Recovery and Subdue Chinese Data
The February U.S. housing prices increased 6.9% year-on-year, the lowest rate of increase since January last year. The sales of existing homes fell to 4.59 million in March compared to a recent peak of 5.38 million in July 2013.
Housing prices have risen as the bad winter weather has limited the supply of houses. Prices have risen faster than wages, dampening the housing recovery.
However, the U.S. economic outlook in the next three to six months unexpectedly jumped 0.8% in March compared to 0.5% in February. In China, the flash HSBC manufacturing PMI remained in a contraction mode at 48.3 in April. The slowdown in China has led the government to announce more infrastructure spending and tax relief as well as a cut of the reserve requirement ratio by two percent for some rural banks.
The Changing Nature of Commodity Trading
Barclays, JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley have all pulled back their global commodities trading activities as regulators have tightened up trading rules for banks and raised their trading costs.
Trading revenue also fell by 18% in 2013 for the top ten banks to $4.5 billion compared to $14.1 billion in 2008 based on Coalition's estimates. These banks are also consolidating their gold trading with their foreign exchange trading in electronic trading platforms as both markets are liquid and are heavily influenced by macroeconomic policies, interest rates, and inflation.
Speculators' Positioning
Managed money's net combined gold positions fell for four consecutive weeks to 90,137 contracts as of 15 April, led by a 15% jump in the short positions. The gold-backed ETP holdings fell to a recent low of 1,735 metric tons, down from a recent peak of 1,769 metric tons a month ago.
In the short-run, the renewed tension between Ukraine and Russia on the militants in Eastern Ukraine will help boost gold prices. In the longer-run, the rising household demand in China for gold bars, coins, and jewelleries and a possible reduction in gold's import duty in India will put a solid floor to gold prices. www.kmggold.com
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Gold Market Takes A Hit
www.kmggold.com April 15, 2014.
The Precious Metals Market had a rather rough day today, falling about 2% in value after coming under pressure from a higher U.S. Dollar, a slightly rebounding equity market and a general consensus that demand for gold out of China is going to be weaker than anticipated.
From the Far East opening at $1321, gold sold off steadily through the session, falling $10 down to the $1310 level. Europe followed suit, continuing the slide to $1303 and the New York opening. The market was hit hard early in NY, triggering some large stop loss selling at around the $1300 level, falling within minutes to its low of $1285-$1290 in hectic activity.
Gold finally got its footing on some bargain hunting and some more tough talk from the Ukraine. It finally got back above $1300 slightly after the Second London fixing, and traded cautiously through the remainder of the session between $1301 and $1305. It finished the day with a decided lack of bluster at $1302.
The market apparently felt economic factors weighed more on the market than current geopolitical events. Gold fell through the 200 day moving average of $1300, although closing above $1300 again is a step in the right direction. CPI came in above expectations at +0.2% (hint of inflation?) but the Empire (NY) Mfg. Index disappointed at a mere 1.29 (cons. 7.50).
Housing starts tomorrow at 8:30am (cons. 965K units) and a 9:15am Industrial Production number (cons +0.4%) should further indicate how the economy is shaking off its long term doldrums. At very long last, these numbers should be about the last items tainted by the “winter” effect, which has been blamed for skewing the last couple of months of data.
Disclaimer –
Statements of news and current events on this web site, and financial, economic, political and market information on this web site (individually and collectively “Content”) are not intended to and do not constitute investment advice and are not intended to and do not constitute a prediction of the future course of the economy or the market for precious metals. The accuracy, completeness, adequacy or currency of the Content is not warranted or guaranteed in any way. Your use of Content on this web site or materials linked from this web site is at your own risk.
www.kmggold.com
The Precious Metals Market had a rather rough day today, falling about 2% in value after coming under pressure from a higher U.S. Dollar, a slightly rebounding equity market and a general consensus that demand for gold out of China is going to be weaker than anticipated.
From the Far East opening at $1321, gold sold off steadily through the session, falling $10 down to the $1310 level. Europe followed suit, continuing the slide to $1303 and the New York opening. The market was hit hard early in NY, triggering some large stop loss selling at around the $1300 level, falling within minutes to its low of $1285-$1290 in hectic activity.
Gold finally got its footing on some bargain hunting and some more tough talk from the Ukraine. It finally got back above $1300 slightly after the Second London fixing, and traded cautiously through the remainder of the session between $1301 and $1305. It finished the day with a decided lack of bluster at $1302.
The market apparently felt economic factors weighed more on the market than current geopolitical events. Gold fell through the 200 day moving average of $1300, although closing above $1300 again is a step in the right direction. CPI came in above expectations at +0.2% (hint of inflation?) but the Empire (NY) Mfg. Index disappointed at a mere 1.29 (cons. 7.50).
Housing starts tomorrow at 8:30am (cons. 965K units) and a 9:15am Industrial Production number (cons +0.4%) should further indicate how the economy is shaking off its long term doldrums. At very long last, these numbers should be about the last items tainted by the “winter” effect, which has been blamed for skewing the last couple of months of data.
Disclaimer –
Statements of news and current events on this web site, and financial, economic, political and market information on this web site (individually and collectively “Content”) are not intended to and do not constitute investment advice and are not intended to and do not constitute a prediction of the future course of the economy or the market for precious metals. The accuracy, completeness, adequacy or currency of the Content is not warranted or guaranteed in any way. Your use of Content on this web site or materials linked from this web site is at your own risk.
www.kmggold.com
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Gold Bullion from Around the World
Just like the silver bullion that makes its way into KMG Gold, gold bullion is another popular item for us. Since we buy and sell gold bullion in all shapes and sizes, we have a lot of interested customers who purchase the gold bullion as a form of investment. As we mentioned in our last post about silver bullion, many investors prefer to purchase bullion in precious metal form because it protects against inflation and deflation.
Gold bullion coins and bars can be sold in many different ounces and come from various mints or mines from around the world. Gold coins vary anywhere in purity from .900 to .9999 and different mints have changed the gold content of the gold coins throughout the years. They are sold for more than their face value because of their high gold content so their face value is merely symbolic on the coins.
Here are some of the world's most popular gold bullion coins:
KMG Gold often has a few of these different types of gold bullion coins (along with some bars) in stock at any given time, so just give us a call and we'll let you know what we have available for purchase!
Gold bullion coins and bars can be sold in many different ounces and come from various mints or mines from around the world. Gold coins vary anywhere in purity from .900 to .9999 and different mints have changed the gold content of the gold coins throughout the years. They are sold for more than their face value because of their high gold content so their face value is merely symbolic on the coins.
Here are some of the world's most popular gold bullion coins:
- USA - Gold Eagle. Released by the United States Mint in 1986. The Mint also produces the American Buffalo and Double Eagle gold bullion coins.
- Canada - Gold Maple Leaf. Released by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1979.
- Australia - Gold Nugget. Released by the Perth Mint in 1986. One of the few countries which changes the coin's design every year. The Perth Mint also produces the Lunar Series I (1996-2007) and II (2008-2019) coins.
- China - Gold Panda. Released by the People's Republic of China in 1982. One of the few countries which changes the coin's design every year.
- United Kingdom - Gold Britannia and Sovereign. Released by the Royal Mint in 1887 and has been released off and on again through the present.
- Mexico - Gold Libertad. Released by the Mexican Mint in 1981.
- Austria - Gold Philharmoniker. Released by the Austrian Mint in 1989.
- Russia - George the Victorious. Released by the Saint Petersburg Mint in 2006.
KMG Gold often has a few of these different types of gold bullion coins (along with some bars) in stock at any given time, so just give us a call and we'll let you know what we have available for purchase!