The Gold Market Needs New Catalysts as Traditional Asset Markets Outperformed
The U.S. Comex gold futures fell 1.17 percent on Monday to $1,272.30 and rebounded about one dollar on Tuesday. The Dollar Index also fell 0.18 percent in the past two days to 80.704. After rising last week, the S&P 500 Index fell 0.55 percent and the Euro Stoxx 50 Index dropped 0.18 percent this week. The CRB Commodities Index also fell 0.68 percent in the past two days. The prices of the U.S. 10-year government bond dropped as the yield climbed 15bp this month to 2.707 percent on Tuesday. While most asset prices fell this week, the VIX index jumped 1.20 percentage points to 13.39 percent.
Nothing New from the Fed
Ben
Bernanke indicated on Tuesday that the near-zero Fed Funds rate will
likely remain at that level long after ending the QE purchases and
“pushing” the unemployment rate well below the 6.5 percent threshold.
It is not clear to Bernanke that if the Fed withdraws its support, the
labour market improvement will be sustainable. Both Janet Yellen, the
Fed governor nominee, and Charles Evans, a FOMC voter, are in no hurry
to reduce stimulus. Subdue inflation and low credit demand suggest a
moderate recovery so far. Bloomberg pointed out that a better 2014 for
the global economy will require an agreement in February on the debt
limits between the two parties in the U.S. and President Obama to end
sequestration.
Investors Prefer Traditional Assets
According
to the CFTC, the combined net gold positions by managed money declined
about 37 percent during the week ending 12 November, led by a 104
percent jump in the short contracts. While the gold futures fell 24
percent this year, the MSCI developed world equity markets index rose
close to 24 percent. The worldwide gold-backed ETP holdings tracked by
Bloomberg have continued to fall, declining 0.5 million troy ounces in
November and 24.6 million troy ounces year-to-date. So far, various
sources support that most of the gold liquidated from the ETFs have been
remelted into gold bars and sent to China.
In Wednesday’s FOMC minutes release, Barclays urged that the investors should focus on the discussions about the financial markets conditions in the U.S. and the Fed’s readiness (or not) to lower the unemployment rate threshold.
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20 Nov 2013 | Categories: Gold
