Gold down in Europe
August 30, 2012
August 30, 2012
Precious metals were held in a range by speculation that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, in a speech at the meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, could give a clear hint that the Fed may launch a new asset-purchase programme soon. However, some market players say he may just repeat that the Fed has room to act, which would leave the market guessing until the central bank's policy meeting on September 12-13.
"Our view is that Bernanke will disappoint markets, and that is definitely a concern for gold," Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said. "But it should only be temporary." Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,665.39 an ounce at 1330 GMT, while US gold futures for December delivery were down $1.30 an ounce at $1,668.40.
Gold is up nearly 2 percent since August 22, when the minutes of the Fed's last policy meeting suggested the US central bank was ready to deliver another round of gold-friendly monetary easing "fairly soon" unless the economy improved. Investment interest in gold remained elevated, with the world's largest gold exchange-traded fund, which issues securities backed by physical metal, recording an inflow of just over 3 tonnes on Tuesday.
That brought its rise for the month to nearly 38 tonnes, its biggest one-month inflow since November. "While gold demand (fell) slightly in the first half, thanks to the plunge in Indian demand due to tax hikes, a weakening rupee, and record-high gold prices, the seasonal increase in India from September to November could prop up gold demand," bullion broker Sharps Pixley said in a report.
Statistics released last Friday by the International Monetary Fund showed Turkey raised its gold holdings by more than a fifth in July, while Russia, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka also added to reserves. Among other precious metals, silver was flat at $30.84 an ounce, while spot palladium was down 0.2 percent at $633.75 an ounce.
Platinum bucked the trend to rise 0.4 percent to $1,516.99 an ounce as investors continued to worry about unrest in the South African mining sector, after violence at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine killed 44 earlier this month. The gold/platinum ratio, which measures the number of platinum ounces needed to buy an ounce of gold, rose back to 1.1 on Wednesday, recovering from the three-month low it hit last week but well off its highs for the year of 1.17.
