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Wednesday 21 November 2018

Gold remains positive but lacks direction

Gold prices were modestly high last week reacting over a mixed bag of economic reports and geopolitical events. The yellow metal has been able to furnish gains over slightly weak US dollar.

GOLD PRICES rose against a falling US Dollar on Friday, halving last week's 1.9% drop to trade back above $1220 per ounce as Western stock markets fell and crude oil rallied from this month's 17% plunge so far.

Gold prices ended higher on Thursday, shaking off pressure from a stronger dollar to hold on to a week-to-date gain as U.S. and European equities declined.

Tumbling equities market, plunging oil prices, escalating worries about stresses in the global economy, ongoing trade tensions and uncertain growth projections have created a rally in gold prices. 



Let have look at these mixed bags -

BREXIT - The issues around Brexit have invigorated a little bit of safe-haven buying in the precious metals market. In the past week, U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May had two of her cabinet members resign Thursday, including her Brexit secretary, following May’s pronouncement Wednesday that she is sticking with her controversial Brexit plan. The British pound sunk on the news of the resignations, while European bond yields rose. Talks of a no confidence vote for May were also doing the rounds. This led to some safe haven buying in gold though it did not create that much an impact on the world marketplace.

DOLLAR - while the U.S. dollar remains the strongest and most consistent factor for gold, it’s likely that correlations with other asset classes will begin to strengthen and re-emerge over the next 6-12 months and thus reassert themselves in gold’s favour. Furthermore, the marketplace took note of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments at a speech late Wednesday that the Fed is closely monitoring the modest deceleration in world economic growth. However, Powell implied that situation is not now altering the Fed’s monetary policy tenor of continuing to slowly raise U.S. interest rates. Powell added that a further U.S. stock market selloff could impact the Fed’s policy decisions. Any further weakness in the dollar due to Feds decisions will pull gold prices high.

EURO ZONE CRISIS - Crisis and uncertainty continue to prevail in Europe, where Italy is locking horns with the EU and a Brexit deal hangs in the balance, mega-economy Germany has just produced the worst growth in nearly six years. Even if Wall Street can successfully shake off noise from the Old Country, a fresh threat from falling oil prices, along with worries over trade and a Fed misstep may cast long shadows

EQUITIES - Currently equities don’t belong to anyone and it appears to be in no-man’s-land. Gold and silver are seeing a bit of support as the U.S. stock indexes have backed down and might fall further. Any stronger stock market selling pressure surfacing in the near future would likely more significantly benefit gold and silver prices.

What we see from the above explanations is that the markets are now moving focus from dollar to geopolitical events.

But one notable interesting thing we see coming in is from China. China has developed tremendously in recent years. But what’s next? Is the country entering the growth recession? And how it will affect the world and the gold market?

Indeed, at the turn of this century, China was a minor player in this market. While today it is both the world’s largest consumer and producer of gold, accounting for 23% of total gold demand and 13% of total gold supply. However, there are still opportunities for further development, as the investor base is too narrow, while the market infrastructure and regulations need to improve.

So far, the Chinese authorities have postponed the inevitable slowdown. But it will arrive one day. Given the economy’s massive leverage, the growth recession is likely to cause a financial crisis, which would hit the whole world. Gold should shine, then. The problem is that nobody knows when it will happen.

While we remain positive on gold prices going toward and into 2019, gold still seems to lack clear price directionality for the time being.

Thursday 15 November 2018

Investors mantra - Stay Calm

Gold has lost around $30/oz. in less than one week as the US dollar charge continues. Last week’s FOMC meeting confirmed that US interest rates will continue to climb this year and next, while the Democrats’ victory in the House of Representatives is being taken as a USD positive so far, as it makes US President Trump more accountable for his actions. The precious metal was also unable to pick up a risk-off bid after US and Asian stock markets crumbled overnight on tech - mainly due to Apple - and worries that US-China trade wars may escalate.



Apart from the above mentioned acts, the way things are going- default concerns and inflation expectations are rather low by historical standards. As a result, financial markets could take a hard hit if investors ever wake up and demand a higher price for accepting credit and/or inflation risk. Such a scenario could make holding gold a particularly interesting option.

The recent weakness in gold is not over. In fact, we are worried about another leg down getting underway. While some believe that gold is moving to the bears there are some players in the market who still believe that gold prices will rally in the near future. Long term investors and speculation are making a shift from a bear to a bull market. Their belief is strongly supported by a few factors which these market players expected to occur soon-


  • First and foremost, the current gold price does not seem to be high and there is a lot of scope for recovery till it reaches its all time high
  • In a risk-on scenario, there is a good chance that the gold price will move up
  • Bargain hunting and weakness in equities, such as the sharp fall in U.S. stock market on are helping put a floor under gold during the metal’s recent slide. The fact that gold has not fallen further “is probably due to the correction on the stock markets, which has made gold attractive as an alternative investment
  • Oiling of gold reserves is a clear indicator that central banks do not want to be dollar dependent. A gold driven economy will definitely raise the demand for the yellow metal and furthermore its prices.
  • Gold is the only financial asset that’s not simultaneously somebody else’s liability. Hence the liking for this metal always remains high.
  • With uncertain world financial assets, there’s an excellent chance there’s going to be a volatile markets and hopefully a one that favors gold.


Currently we see investors acting very calm in the market. Maybe they await a strong and concrete signal from the global markets to get back into action mode.



Tuesday 13 November 2018

December likely to be more volatile

Just when gold had become investor’s favorites, it started losing sheen. Friday, Gold closed at a one-week low amid investors shifting to riskier assets on the back of a higher dollar and the Federal Reserve's policy statement.

Gold eased to a one-week low on Thursday, as a recovery in the dollar and improved appetite for riskier assets pushed investors away from bullion.

Spot gold fell 0.13 percent to $1,224.09 per ounce, after touching its lowest since Nov. 1 at $1,219.59 Just when gold had become investor’s favorites, it started losing sheen. Friday, Gold closed at a one-week low amid investors shifting to riskier assets on the back of a higher dollar and the Federal Reserve's policy statement.

Gold eased to a one-week low on Thursday, as a recovery in the dollar and improved appetite for riskier assets pushed investors away from bullion.

Spot gold fell 0.13 percent to $1,224.09 per ounce, after touching its lowest since Nov. 1 at $1,219.59 earlier during the day.

Gold prices fell to their lowest in a week on Friday, and were set for their biggest weekly fall since August, on a firmer dollar as the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated they will continue to raise interest rates, lowering demand for bullion.

In the past fortnight we saw the dollar going week on the belief that losses for U.S. President Donald Trump's Republican Party in the midterm elections would make further fiscal stimulus measures unlikely.

But it didn’t take too long for the dollar to get back into action. The dollar has mounted a significant rally. Many reasons were cited for this bounce back-

The Fed kept interest rates steady on Thursday
It reaffirmed its monetary tightening stance.
Robust U.S. economy kept the currency underpinned
Investors positioned for a Federal Reserve interest rate rise next month
Political risks in Europe put pressure on the euro and the pound.
Fears about a no-deal Brexit gave dollar the push
Growing rift in Europe over Italy's budget
Reload of long dollar positions by investors
Vulnerability of European currencies
Weakening of the Euro over concerns about Rome's tussle with the European Commission over its 2019 budget
Weakness in Italy's banking sector
The melancholy in Europe has been good news for dollar
Easing of China-U.S. trade tensions
Weak China data
Weakening euro zone economy is expected to trigger further euro-selling pressure.


All these factors clubbed together strengthened the dollar and hence the dollar rallied to a 16-month high on Monday.

The dollar extended its recovery following a sigh of relief across markets after the U.S. midterm election results, and as investors turned their attention towards the Fed.

Gold has always been keeping a watch on the dollar and moving accordingly. Currently too it is dollar-watching and keeping an eye on the interest rate decisions. Gold has come under pressure because of a stronger dollar. Also the FOMC meeting showed no change in the interest rates. Gold might turn to the bears as any news that is positive for the U.S. dollar and the U.S economy as a whole will bring about a fall in the yellow metal and push prices down.

A lot is expected to happen by the end of year and these activities will sure create volatility on a global level. Ongoing trade disputes. Escalating Saudi- Arabian tensions and Brexit are all in line to occur. December is likely to be more volatile and hence a lot is expected to happen as we get closer to end the year.




Tuesday 6 November 2018

Wait and watch approach

Gold was down last week till Wednesday but again gained momentum on Thursday. It saw a sharp rally from Wednesday’s bottom but pulled back once again on Friday.

In 2018, gold was highly influenced by a wide variety of factors -

  • Brexit
  • Election of U.S President Donald Trump
  • Geopolitical events
  • US China trade war
  • Global equities
  • Iranian Sanctions in Venezuela
  • Midterm elections
  • Cyber attacks
  • Collapse of peace talks with North Korea


These all have the highest likelihood of impacting markets in 2018 and 2019 and thus creating volatility which will likely bring about a rally in gold prices.

Since these series of events are either on going or about to happen, markets player are now following the wait and watch approach.

US midterm elections will definitely have a major impact on global currencies and assets across all classes. Hence investors and traders are not being much active and are waiting for something concrete to occur as Midterm elections may stimulate safe-haven buying,”

Interestingly gold has not only bounced, it has shown this behavior in spite of stability in the dollar. Gold is expected to rise further

Interestingly, gold, largely left for dead, has rallied. Not only has gold bounced, but it has done so despite a steady dollar. Which raises the question: Why is gold rallying now? Here are some potential reasons:

Steady dollar - While the DXY Index is pushing against the upper end of its five-month range, the dollar has been relatively stable since May. This is important as a rapidly strengthening dollar, as we witnessed last spring, has historically been a headwind for gold.

Inflation - Besides the dollar, the biggest challenge for gold in 2018 has been rising real rates, i.e. interest rates after inflation. Higher real rates raise the opportunity cost of an asset that produces no income. Between January and early October, real 10-year yields advanced by 50 basis points. However, since then, real rates seem to have temporarily peaked near the levels reached in 2013 and hence its stability will bring in a rise in gold prices.

Volatility - While real rates and the dollar are key fundamental drivers for gold, demand for a hedge against volatility also drives gold prices. With the exception of the brief correction in February, that attribute has not been in demand until recently. Prior to the recent swoon, U.S. equities were well on their way towards another year of double-digit gains. Unfortunately, this pleasant trajectory has been interrupted. Equity market volatility has doubled since early October. This is important, as gold has a history of performing best versus stocks when volatility is spiking.


These factors have historically proved that in such a volatile environment gold always acts as a safe haven asset and a hedge tool. Give this characteristic of gold it’s obvious that any minor crisis will also bring about a rise in the demand for the yellow metal which will further push the prices higher.

Moving to the domestic markets, sales have dampened this Diwali. Physical gold demand in India was lacklustre this week, with dealers offering discounts for the metal ahead of a traditionally busy festival week for the first time in at least three years, as high prices kept consumers away.

Prices in India, the second biggest gold consumer after China, held near 33,000 Indian rupees per 10 grams, the highest since September 2013, ahead of the Dhanteras and Diwali festivals next week, when buying gold is considered auspicious.

This Dhanteras, jewellers and bullion traders witnessed a drop in demand. Retail buyers are not interested in buying at this level. Furthermore, The Indian currency has lost more than 12 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar so far in 2018, making purchases of commodities denominated in the greenback more expensive.

Post Diwali, jewellers still have hope of a rise in the demand during the wedding season.
Like global investors and markets players, jewellers in India too are following this approach- to wait and to watch.