Safe Havens including Gold Outperformed as the VIX Surged
The U.S. Comex gold futures advanced for three consecutive weeks and
have rebounded 20.4 percent since the trough on 27 June. This week, the
gold futures were up 1.75 percent to finish at $1,420 on Tuesday.
Year-to-date, the prices declined 15.26 percent. The Dollar Index ended
at 81.166 on Tuesday and fell 0.24 percent this week. The S&P 500
Index fell almost two percent while the Euro Stoxx 50 Index declined
2.72 percent in the past two days. The developed equity markets are
still up 13 percent this year while the emerging equity markets fell
about 11 percent. The “fear index”, VIX, jumped almost 20 percent to
16.77 percent this week as the tensions in Syria deepened while the
crude oil futures are approaching $110 per barrel.
Encouraging Economic Data
The U.S. August consumer confidence index jumped to 81.5 compared to the
79 expected as rising house prices and stock markets help to raise
income expectations and consumer sentiments. The June U.S.
S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rose as expected by 12.1 percent
year-over-year. The August German business confidence level also beat
expectations, rising to a 16-month high of 107.5. Growth recovery and
rising confidence should help Chancellor Merkel to get her third term on
22 September. The ECB is also likely to maintain the interest rate at
the current level or lower for an extended time period.
Safe Havens Outperform for Now
As the U.S. and its allies warned that they could strike Syria within
days, the prices of the safe havens including gold and the U.S.
Treasuries have jumped. At the same time, the emerging market central
banks continue to add gold to their reserves and have a lot more room to
do so. Russia added 6.3 tons to its gold reserves, which now exceeds
1,000 tons and constitutes 7.4 percent of the total reserves compared to
the 70 percent holding in the U.S. In India, the plunge of the Rupee
by close to ten percent in August has pushed up gold prices, which went
from 24,830 Rupees per ten gram on 28 June to a high of 33,824 on 27
August. The surge in gold prices, however, will likely hamper the
upcoming festival gold jewellery demand.
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28 Aug 2013 | Categories: Gold
