A Pause in the Safe-Haven Bid for Gold?
After suffering from the biggest quarterly decline in Q2 2013, the U.S.
Comex gold futures rebounded 8.40 percent in Q3. On Tuesday, the gold
futures dropped 3.05 percent to $1,286.10 after falling 0.89 percent on
Monday. During Asia Wednesday morning, the prices traded above $1,290.
The S&P 500 Index rose 0.80 percent on the first day of the U.S.
Government shutdown and climbed 4.69 percent in Q3 while the Euro Stoxx
50 Index surged 11.16 percent in the past quarter and rose 1.38 percent
on Tuesday. The Dollar Index fell 3.51 percent in Q3 and fell 0.10
percent on Tuesday. The CRB Commodity Index climbed 3.60 percent in the
last quarter but declined 0.53 percent on 1 October. The U.S. 10-year
government bond yield ended the quarter at 2.61 percent, from 1.7574
percent at the end of last year.
U.S. and China Disappoint while Europe Gains
U.S. has begun its partial shutdown starting 1 October, costing an
estimated $10 billion a week and delaying the release of economic data.
The debt limit of $16.7 trillion will be reached on 17 October.
China’s official September PMI was at 51.1, lower than the expected
51.6, raising concerns that the economy’s momentum is not that strong.
On the other hand, the September U.S. ISM Manufacturing Index was higher
than expected at 56.2 while the Euro Area ISM in September was at 51.1,
expanding for the third month. The market does not think that the U.S.
government shutdown will last long and has sold gold and bought riskier
assets. However, a last-minute debt deal could raise the safe-haven
bid for gold while economic damages from the U.S. shutdown could delay
the Fed’s tapering and support the gold prices.
Investors’ Positioning and Gold Premiums
The combined net gold speculative positions rose 6.52 percent in the
week ending 24 September while they fell a total of 28 percent in the
previous two weeks. However, as Barclays pointed out, the gold-backed
ETP holdings fell another 26 tonnes in September with year-to-date
outflow at 697 tonnes. While the seasonally strong gold demand season
in India has begun, gold purchases remain very price sensitive, and the
government’s hike on import duties certainly has not helped. Premiums
in India went from $40 earlier in September to about $5 to $7oz while
those in China’s Shanghai Gold Exchange is now at $7/oz compared to the
$30 level seen in April and May. Still, the World Gold Council expects
the Chinese gold consumption to grow in line with GDP growth, which is
expected to be around 7.5 percent (real).
This story is provided by Sharps Pixley, for more information and content please visit: www.SharpsPixley.com
02 Oct 2013 | Categories: Gold
