ALL NOTIONS TO SEE GOLD AT $800 DESTROYED!!!

                                                                                                             - By Mr. Prithviraj Kothari, MD, RSBL

A few weeks earlier, we saw a lot of noise in the market…but this time it seems that someone left the loudspeakers on!

Well, oil and SNB played the game here.Precious metals showed great volatility- all thanks to the fluctuating oil prices.

Crude oil was highly volatile after a report from Paris based energy agency IEA depicted a likely reduction in Non-OPEC output for 2015 by 350,000 BPD. 

Moreover, gold and silver prices soared in Euro terms after the SNB moves and now many market players are beginning to wonder if a loss of confidence after the Swiss fiasco has started a run on gold? 

Bullion traders said sentiment turned better after gold rallied to the highest since September in global markets as the dollar weakened after Switzerland decoupled its currency to the euro and lowered the deposit rate.

Gold had closed at 1276.50 following a brief intraday break above 1280, its highest level since September 2014. We look to the September 2nd open of 1286 as the next important level of
Resistance, followed by 1300 and 1320. Momentum indicators are increasingly bullish.

Gold regained its safe-haven mantle following a shocking and unforeseen decision by the Swiss Central Bank (SNB) to scrap its cap on the franc’s exchange rate against the euro.


After the SNB- Swiss National Bank dropped the bombshell on the markets Thursday morning, the prices of the precious metals had gone in one direction… UP.  In just two days, the price of gold was up $40 and silver $1.10.

Post this action, gold rose more than 2 percent to a 4 month high in Thursday. This was a result of the move by Switzerland to abandon its three-year cap on the franc sent global shares and bond yields into turmoil. 

Following the Swiss National Bank’s unprecedented move to abandon the franc’s peg to the euro, the country’s currency had appreciated sharply against the U.S. dollar. The surge in the Swiss franc…means it is now the most overvalued of all the developed market (DM) currencies in terms of the deviation of the real effective exchange rate from its 10-year average

The SNB has been under growing pressure to revisit the peg as speculation grows that the European Central Bank could introduce outright money-printing as early as next week, which could see the euro zone flooded with liquidity.
It looks as is the SNB decision has finally destroyed the notion of $800 gold ever again.

Furthermore, a Labor Department report released on Thursday showed that Jobless claims climbed by 19,000 to 316,000 in the week ended Jan. 10, the most since early September, from a revised 297,000 in the prior period.

Adding to it, the gold price climbed on Friday after a lackluster US inflation report had participants readjusting their timetable for the next Federal Reserve rate increase.

In data, the US consumer price index fell 0.4 percent last month, the biggest drop since December 2008, after sliding 0.3 percent in November. It also undershot the -0.3 percent forecast.

This goes directly against the Federals Reserve’s mandate to achieve inflation of around two percent as the reports imply a deflationary trend. Which further means that the fed may probably delay its rate increase as it would want to know that inflation is on track to hit this level before acting?
Additionally, deciding not to reduce stimulus in 2015 would also be consistent with a goal-oriented approach to the employment mandate.
Additionally, Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose to 717.15 tons on Friday from 707.59 tons from its previous close on Thursday.

Fall in equities and worries over Euro area political and debt issues might continue to help Bullion complex as a whole and mainly the yellow metal.
Next week we could see further volatility as the ECB are set to meet and it is widely expected they will announced a broad-based government bond purchases.
We stay with our moderate positive bias in Gold and advice buying on small dips.




- Previous blog - "Lot of Things To Smile About For Precious Metals"

http://riddisiddhibullionsltd.blogspot.in/2015/01/lots-ofthings-to-smile-about-for.html

LOTS OFTHINGS TO SMILE ABOUT FOR PRECIOUS METALS

                                                                                                      - By Mr. Prithviraj Kothari, MD, RSBL

Though we did see some trading in precious metals on Jan 1st and 2nd, it was the week from 5th-9th Jan that was actually considered the first volatile trading week of 2015.

The main news doing the rounds for the week was from US- minutes of the recent FOMC meeting and the non-farms payroll report.

Apart from the macro reports there were the following financial reports that were out in the week.

• US non-manufacturing PMI, factory orders and trade balance monthly reports.
• Europe, MPC rate
• The EU flash CPI
• Unemployment report,
• GB’s manufacturing PMI
• Germany retail sales
• The French trade balance.
• In China, CPI and trade balance
• And several economic reports from Canada and Australia.

But of all the above mentioned reports, the most influential for gold was the unemployment report.


Gold was seen to have a positive start for the week as it firmed above $1200 an ounce on Tuesday hitting a near three-week high, as tumbling global equities and concerns over Greece's future in the euro zone prompted investors to seek safety in the metal.

The uncertainty behind the euro zone is once again tempting investors to run after gold as a safe haven asset. This risk off sentiment in the markets may help bullion be stable at its recent upswing.

Adding to this we also saw that holding in the world’s largest gold-backed exchange traded fund- the SPDR Gold trust, rose 0.25 per cent to 710.81 tonnes on Monday, though still near a six-year low. But this rise did reflect improving investor sentiments towards gold.

Bullion traded in a ranged manner for most part of the week while volatility was high on Friday. The Greenback jumped on likely positive economic reports from the US coming week whereas speculation increased that Fed might talk about raising interest rates as also anticipated from its monetary policy minutes report due next week and likely putting weight on Bullion.

We have always seen that precious metal markets and the equities markets are inversely related. This week too, we saw precious metals rising while equity market and commodity bellwethers including copper and oil hit fresh multi-year lows. After a disappointing end to 2014 gold is beginning to build a base above $1,200 an ounce – the metal advanced 1.2% to $1,223 an ounce in late trade Friday, the highest since December 11.

Gold's gains since hitting four-year lows early November now top 7% and is made more remarkable by the fact that the advance has come despite a rampant dollar which hit a 12-year high against major currencies yesterday and a Friday jobs report that confirmed that the US economic recovery remains on track.

Though the market players were a lot dependent on the non-farm payrolls report, it did not show much after effect on gold.

The gold price wobbled briefly but was ultimately unaffected by a non-farm payrolls report that, while mostly positive, was not potent enough to shift the Federal Reserve’s rate-rise timeline.

Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 252,000 in December, which beat the 241,000 forecast, while the unemployment rate declined to 5.6 percent, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

Additionally, the change in total non-farm payroll employment for October was revised to 261,000 from 243,000 and the change for November was revised to 353,000 from 321,000.
The forthcoming labor reports are expected to create added significance as there are expectations that the Federal Reserve in on the verge of raising interest rates. The current market consensus is that rates will rise in mid-2015 although this is a moving target that will be dictated by jobs and inflation data.

As said earlier, too gold is one such commodity which takes price direction from macro developments rather than its own demand-supply wherein we feel downside risks for the commodity may stay in the near future



- Previous blog - "An Impressive start For Gold In 2015 But A Dull End"
http://riddisiddhibullionsltd.blogspot.in/2015/01/an-impressive-start-for-gold-in-2105.html