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Gold’s
London AM fix this morning was USD 1,662.50, EUR 1,256.61, and GBP 1,021.44
per ounce. Friday's AM fix was USD 1,654.00, EUR 1,250.28 and GBP 1,019.60
per ounce.
Silver is
trading at $31.24/oz, €23.73/oz and £19.29/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,577.75/oz, palladium at $680.30/oz and
rhodium at $1,350/oz.
Gold rose $4.70 or 0.28% in New York on Friday and closed at
$1,662.30/oz leading to a 1.24% gain for the week.
Gold has
traded sideways in Asia and continues the pattern in Europe this morning
relatively unchanged from Friday’s close and in a range between $1,661/oz and $1,666/oz.
Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg)
Gold hovered
around a two week high on Monday on the prospect of more save haven money
flowing into bullion as the dollar is under pressure from the US weak
economic data and speculation that the Fed could embark on QE.
Although
there are still doubts as to whether the economic slowdown will allow the Fed
to embark on a 3rd round of bond buying - the expectations of it and in
addition the growing fears of the debt crisis in Europe could lead to gold
breaking out of its current price range.
The US
economy, the world's largest, expanded at a 2.2% in the first 3 months of the
year, below economists’ expectations of a 2.5% pace.
Spain, the
euro zone's 4th largest economy, has another bond auction this week after
having recently been downgraded 2 notches to BBB+ and saw yields increased on
its debt.
Gold looks
set to close April marginally lower (-0.3% in USD) although as can be seen in
the chart below much of the losses were incurred in the sharp selloff, some
$30, on April 3rd (see chart below).
CFTC data
from Friday showed that money managers cut long positions on Comex gold futures and options in the week ended April 24
to the lowest level in more than three years.
Managed funds
slashed 2,225 long positions, or bets prices will rise, and added 2,450 short positions, or
bets prices will fall.
Gold 30 Minute Chart – (Bloomberg)
The
managed-fund net long position was cut by 4% and now represents around 10.7
million troy ounces of gold.
This took
their net position down 4% to 107,600 long contracts, from 112,275 long
contracts. That's the lowest in CFTC data since the week ended Jan. 20, 2009.
The low in
January 2009 corresponded with the low in the gold price for 2009 - monthly
low of $807/oz - prior to seeing gains which saw
the gold price rise more than 50% to above $1,200/oz
in late November 2009 (see chart below).
A similar
price gain would see gold rise from $1,663/oz today
to $2,494.50/oz in the coming months.
Also of note
is the fact that large commercial traders have greatly cut back their short
positions in gold and especially in silver. This has often been a sign of a
bottom and suggests that they do not expect gold and silver to fall much
further.
In Comex silver futures and options, these traders added 248
long contracts and 2,883 short contracts. This reduced their net long
position by 20% to 10,756 contracts, from 13,390 contracts the previous week.
The net silver position represents around 53.7 million troy ounces of silver.
OTHER NEWS
(Bloomberg) -- Gold Traders Trim Bets
on Price Rise, CFTC Data Shows
Hedge-fund managers and other large
speculators decreased their net-long position in New York gold futures in the
week ended April 24, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
data.
Speculative
long positions, or bets prices will rise,
outnumbered short positions by 134,994 contracts on the Comex
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Washington-based commission
said in its Commitments of Traders report. Net-long positions fell by 7,011
contracts, or 5 percent, from a week earlier.
Gold futures
rose this week, gaining 1.3 percent to $1,664.80 a troy ounce at today's
close.
Miners,
producers, jewelers and other commercial users were net-short 167,237 contracts,
down 8,854 contracts, or 5 percent, from the previous week.
Each Friday
the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for long and short positions for
speculators such as hedge funds and institutional investors, as well as
commercial companies that buy or sell futures to protect against price moves.
Analysts and investors follow changes in speculators' positions because such
transactions can reflect an expectation of a change in prices.
Gold 5 Year Chart – (Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg)
-- Silver Traders Trim Bets on Price Rise, CFTC Data Shows
Hedge-fund managers and other large
speculators decreased their net-long position in New York silver futures in
the week ended April 24, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
Commission data.
Speculative
long positions, or bets prices will rise, outnumbered
short positions by 16,471 contracts on the Comex
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Washington-based commission
said in its Commitments of Traders report. Net-long positions fell by 1,936
contracts, or 11 percent, from a week earlier.
Silver
futures fell this week, dropping 1.0 percent to
$31.41 a troy ounce at today's close. Miners, producers, jewelers and other
commercial users were net-short 22,353 contracts, down 4,144 contracts, or 16
percent, from the previous week.
Each Friday
the CFTC publishes aggregate numbers for long and short positions for
speculators such as hedge funds and institutional investors, as well as
commercial companies that buy or sell futures to protect against price moves.
Analysts and investors follow changes in speculators' positions because such
transactions can reflect an expectation of a change in prices.
(Bloomberg)
-- Silver Holdings Heading for Biggest Monthly Drop Since October
Silver holdings in exchange-traded
funds backed by the metal dropped 0.5 percent this week and are headed for
their biggest monthly decline since October.
Funds
including iShares Silver Trust held 17,557.69
metric tons as of 5 p.m. today, down from 17,648.32 tons on April 20 and the
biggest weekly decline since Feb. 17, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. The 1.1 percent decline this month would be the first this year
and the biggest slide since October.
(Bloomberg)
-- IShares Silver Trust Holdings Unchanged at 9,552
Metric Tons
Silver holdings in the IShares Silver Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund
backed by silver, were unchanged at 9,552.14 metric tons as of April 27,
according to figures on the company’s website.
April 27
April 26 April 25 April 24 April 23 April 20
2012 2012
2012 2012 2012 2012
Million
Ounces 307.108 307.108 307.108 307.108 307.108 307.108
Daily change
0 0 0 0 0-2,718,365
Metric tons
9,552.14 9,552.14 9,552.14 9,552.14 9,552.14 9,552.14
Daily change
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -84.55
NOTE: Ounces
are troy ounces.
SOURCE: iShares Silver Trust
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NEWS
Gold May Gain for Fifth Day, Set for Longest Rally
Since January - Bloomberg
Gold near 2-week high on dollar, US GDP data
- Reuters
Agnico CEO Says Gold `Middle of the Bull Market'
- Bloomberg
Europe’s Anti-Austerity Calls Mount as
Elections Near - Bloomberg
COMMENTARY
McEwen,
Crofton Debate Gold Standard Feasibility - Bloomberg
Do Central Banks Still Love Gold?
– Resource Investor
Eric Sprott: "When
Fundamentals No Longer Apply, Review the Fundamentals"
– Zero Hedge
Gold's Value Today - Azizonomics
Gold and Silver Disaggregated COT Report (DCOT) for
April 27 – Got Gold Report
Mark
O’Byrne
Goldcore
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