Gold eases on profit-taking after strong run

Gold slipped on Thursday despite the US Federal Reserve vowing to maintain its economic stimulus measures, with investors taking profits from a recent run-up in prices.

"Prices are under pressure as some are liquidating their long positions because there was nothing new from the meeting," sad Peter Fung, head of dealing at Hong Kong’s Wing Fung Precious Metals.

"Prices rose quickly from $1,300 to $1,360 in anticipation of the Fed move — that is why investors are taking profits now."

"With this event risk now behind us, the market will go back into data-watch mode," said Victor Thianpiriya, an analyst at ANZ. "For gold, the intraday moves will continue to be driven by gyrations in the US dollar.

"We expect the slowing of physical demand and the decline in Shanghai premiums will mean gold prices will have to fall further before sparking any strong end-user demand."

Physical buying in Asia, especially China, has slowed in recent weeks with the rise and volatility in prices. Prices on the Shanghai Gold Exchange have trended lower than global prices due to fears of a cash crunch.

Gold Demand at Indian Festival Seen Dropping on Import Curb

Gold purchases in India, the biggest consumer, will probably be less in the festival season this year as import curbs reduce supplies and demand cools after surging in April when prices slumped into bear market.

Sales of coins and bars may decline to as little as 25 percent of purchases a year earlier, according to the All India Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation. Buying and gifting gold in the country is considered auspicious and the most favorable time is today, the festival of Dhanteras, two days before Diwali.

“Demand is a little bit lesser this year as the wedding season was much longer last year,” said Mehul Choksi, chairman of Gitanjali Gems Ltd. (GITG), from Mumbai. “A lot of purchases were advanced earlier because of the price fall in April.”

Gold near 2-week lows on stronger dollar, US data

Gold was flat on Friday, trading close to its lowest in nearly two weeks after sharp losses in the previous session caused by month-end profit taking, strong US economic data and a higher dollar.

"Until tapering begins, gold will be able to trade at this level in a tight range for a considerable period of time," said Helen Lau, an analyst at UOB Kay Hian Securities in Hong Kong.

"Gold prices are still under pressure from outflows from exchange-traded funds (ETFs). At the same time, retail demand is very healthy," said Lau.

Gold hits 2-week low on strong dollar, down for week

Gold fell to a two-week low on Friday and headed for a weekly drop as upbeat U.S. economic data lifted the dollar, raising anxiety over the Federal Reserve's future course.

"The weakness we have been seeing in gold in the past two days is due to the after-effects of the FOMC statement and also the extremely low inflation rate in the euro zone," Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said.

"These factors are very supportive of the dollar, which in turn weighed on precious metals prices."

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Gold rises on expectations US stimulus to be extended

Gold advanced on Wednesday, halting its longest losing streak in nearly six months, as the dollar fell on strengthening expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will extend its monetary stimulus.

"The non-farm payrolls are coming on Friday, and tomorrow we have the ECB and the BoE meetings on interest rates," MKS SA head of trading Afshin Nabavi said.

"Markets are a little bit hesitant, waiting for some kind of direction ... gold seems to have found support at $1,306, while $1,321 is a good resistance level."

On the physical side, demand has failed to pick up robustly as traders await clearer price direction.

"Physical demand is quietening down, and people are hoping to buy at cheaper levels in the Far East, where there is interest but no orders yet," Nabavi from MKS said.

Gold premiums in India halved on Tuesday from levels last week because of unusually muted demand during the festival season and as supply was set to improve after some importing agencies began purchasing for domestic use.

Gold futures inch lower ahead of U.S. GDP report, ECB decision

Gold futures inched lower on Thursday, as investors looked ahead to upcoming U.S. economic data and a policy meeting by the European Central Bank.

Prices held in a tight range between USD1,314.90 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD1,319.80 a troy ounce.

Investors will also be awaiting the outcome of the ECB’s policy meeting later Thursday.

While no policy change was expected from the central bank, many investors expected the ECB to signal the possibility of further monetary policy easing at its meeting in December.

Gold set for second weekly loss as US data sparks stimulus fears

Gold was trading near three-week lows on Friday and heading for a second straight weekly loss after strong U.S. economic growth sparked fears the U.S. Federal Reserve may scale back its bullion-friendly bond purchases this year.

"There is not much interest in gold for the time being," said Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.

"Everyone is waiting for nonfarm payroll data today. There doesn't seem to be much good news for gold lately."

"We expect relatively subdued trading today around the current level of $1,309 until closer to the nonfarm payrolls tonight," ANZ analysts said in a note.

A stronger-than-expected report would probably see expectations for Fed tapering pulled forward from the first quarter of 2014 and push the U.S. dollar higher, they said.

Nov 2013 lah

Hedge Funds Cut Bullish Gold Bets on Fed Stimulus Outlook

Hedge funds cut bullish gold bets, adding the most short contracts in four weeks, as U.S. economic growth fuels speculation the Federal Reserve will trim stimulus. Holdings across commodities dropped the most since April.

The “U.S. economy is showing ample signs that it is growing, and that means the Fed will start looking at tapering either end of this year or early next,” said Dan Heckman, a Kansas City-based national consultant for U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees about $112 billion. “We are underweight on commodities as the support of stimulus will go away at a time when supplies are rising and worries about Europe are increasing.”

The environment for commodities has “deteriorated again” after improvement in the third quarter, as supply disruptions dissipate, Chinese economic data softens and near-month premiums ease in markets including oil, Barclay’s analysts led by Suki Cooper said in a report. The “subdued tone” will probably persist into year-end, they said.

Gold purchases in India, the biggest consumer, probably will fall in this year’s festival season, and sales of coins and bars may decline to as little as 25 percent of the year-earlier total, the Gems & Jewellery Trade Federation said on Oct. 30. Consumption in India, which imports almost all the bullion it uses, accounted for 20 percent of global demand in 2012, the World Gold Council estimates.

Shipments to China from Hong Kong fell for a second month through September after the premium to take immediate delivery declined, indicating waning physical demand in the nation poised to become the largest consumer.

Gold at 3-1/2-week low on Fed taper talk after U.S. data

Gold hit three-and-a-half week lows on Monday after a surprise surge in U.S. jobs growth reignited speculation the Federal Reserve could soon start scaling back its monetary stimulus, denting bullion's appeal.

"Strength in bond yields and the dollar has created some weakness for gold and we saw the sell-off on Friday below $1,300," Saxo Bank senior manager Ole Hansen said.

"This week is data-empty and it will be a question of working out if there is a follow-through to the reaction that we saw last week and whether bond yields continue to climb, and assess how the market looks at tapering."

Gold's recent drop to below $1,300 has failed to attract demand in Asia as buyers wait on the sidelines on expectations that prices will weaken further.

Prices have to fall towards $1,200 an ounce for demand to increase, one dealer said.

Another dealer said weakness in regional currencies against the U.S. dollar was also curbing demand.

Gold stays below $1,300 as markets worry about U.S. stimulus

Gold hit a fresh 3-1/2 week trough below $1,300 on Tuesday as investors fretted over the timing of the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus tapering, while physical demand was not strong enough to put a floor under prices.

"We think the markets have overreacted to the recent news coming from the United States," said Alexis Garatti, an economist at Haitong International Research in Hong Kong.

"We could see markets revise their expectations in the coming days," said Garatti, adding that gold prices could recover in the short term if the tapering gets delayed.

Gold's drop below $1,300 on Friday has failed to attract buyers in Asia as customers expect prices to weaken further. Dealers say buyers would come in as prices fall towards $1,200.

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Gold demand falls 21% in third quarter – World Gold Council

Gold demand fell 21% in the three months to September 30, compared with the same period last year, the World Gold Council said on Thursday.

The council’s 'Gold Demand Trends' report put 2013 third-quarter demand at 868.5 t and supply at 1 145.5 t – a 277 t excess.

The average gold price for the quarter was $1 326/oz, 20% lower than in the third quarter of last year.

This pushed third-quarter gold value down to $37-billion – a drop of 37%.

Outflows of nearly 700 t from gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) in the West were partly balanced by the strong uptake of gold jewellery, bars and coins in the East.

The physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM128.06 per gramme, up 67 sen from RM127.39 at 5pm yesterday.

the physical price of gold as at 5pm stood at RM128.02 per gramme, down four sen from RM128.06 at 5pm yesterday - Bernama

This post has been edited by davinz18: Nov 15 2013, 05:47 PM

Gold stages modest rebound after Fed-inspired loss

Gold headed higher on Tuesday, getting back on track after its short winning streak was derailed a day earlier amid further indications from the Federal Reserve that the tapering of the bond-buying program would begin sooner rather than later.

“Gold and silver prices continue to be buffeted by demand for physical gold from Asian buyers versus negative investment sentiment in the western world expressed in sales of ‘paper’ gold,” such as exchange-traded funds and futures, said James West, portfolio adviser to the Midas Letter Opportunity Fund, in emailed comments.

“Either the western world under appreciates the growing divergence between physical supply and demand, or an absence of regulation in terms of position sizes in paper derivatives of gold engenders mis-pricing,” said West. “Either way the long-term price for precious metals is pressured upward with every new month of a quantitatively-eased increase in sovereign debt.”

“There was a very muted physical gold demand response when the gold price dropped below $1,300 two weeks ago,” he wrote in a note. “And, until such time as physical demand improves, we believe that gold will likely be sold into rallies on approach of $1,300.”

Gold down, awaits Fed minutes for stimulus clues

Gold edged lower on Wednesday, failing to capitalise on dovish Federal Reserve's comments as investors awaited the release of the minutes of the U.S. central bank's policy meeting later in the session for clues on when it will trim its stimulus.

"The key issue today is the FOMC minutes and investors will look to see if there is any surprise in the announcement, although I doubt it," Sharps Pixley CEO Ross Norman said.

"There is nothing really new in terms of macro drivers at the moment ...the tapering discussion continues and prices may remain under pressure until the Fed clarify the timing of it."

Physical demand from China and other Asian countries has failed to pick up below the $1,300 level as consumers looked to have satisfied their needs when prices fell earlier in the year.

"We are now in the heart of the traditional season for buying gold in main Asian markets but demand remains remarkably light and that's another element of support missing for gold at the moment," Norman said.

See next support for gold at $1180/oz: Scotia Mocatta

Sunil Kashyap, MD, Scotia Mocatta is of view that gold is in a downward trend and the next support is seen at USD 1180 per ounce. Moreover, he feels despite the sell-off seen there is still physical demand for gold especially from India, China which is supporting the prices and so the fall wasn't dramatic.