BUDGET 2019

International markets didn’t witness much volatility as US market remained closed on 4th July over Independence Day.

Now there are 2 points to be noted-
Firstly, the US DOW is at life’s high at 27000 as the plunging yields are now at 1.94% US 10y. This indicates that the rate cut is bound to happen soon.

Secondly, the key number comes in from US payroll at 6.00pm IST. The Fed meet and broader expectation of 162k vs. last times 75k. Moreover, unemployment rate is expected to be at a decade’s high.

Till then market is expected to be trading in a narrow range.
As far as domestic markets are concerned, all eyes were on the much awaited budget, well named as Modi 2.0 budget.

A clean win this election for our respected PM Modi clearly indicates that the public has hopes with this government and expects it to work for the betterment of our country. Similar to these lines, the common man also had many expectations from this budget with respect to taxation, water managements, farmer loans and many other critical issues.

Even the gem, jewellery and gold industry had expectations that this budget would bring some relief to the sector where duty structure is concerned.

What was need was that the government should give a thought on how gold should be treated and how it should be classified into asset class. Once gold is classified into an asset class then other products like Mutual Funds, Insurance Fund, Pension funds should be allowed to invest into the yellow metal. The dollar rupee fluctuation can be hedged and interest rate can be covered on large scale.

Another need of the hour was to have a more organised gold market. Introduction of a trading platform/exchange to trade gold and all transactions should take place only on this platform. This would bring about transparency in its pricing, set benchmark prices and would benefit the end consumer on a large scale.

Gold has an import duty of 10 per cent, and market players wanted it to be pulled down to 4 percent to boost demand. But the government has proposed to increase the duty to 12.5 percent to mobilise resources. We need to wait and see how markets have accepted this rise in duty and what will be their reaction.

Investors parking funds into Gold

Gold is on a winning streak, shining brighter than before. Investors, households, traders and central banks around the globe are parking cash in it. Gold has rallied its highest in the last six years in the international market. In India, it hit it’s highest ever on June 25. In one month, gold has gained 12% and it appears the Bull Run for the yellow metal will last longer than one thought.

Gold prices have surged to the highest since 2013 as the U.S. and the global economy slow and due to the likelihood of a return to ultra-loose monetary policies. Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and between an aligned Iran, Russia and China versus the U.S. is also leading to safe haven demand. U.S.-Iran relations have deteriorated sharply whereby war has become a very real possibly alas.

Monetary policies - The US Federal Reserve, the country’s central bank, did what many expected last Wednesday, and held interest rates steady while signalling that a rate cut is on its way. Now, meaning no change to the 2.25% to 2.5% range on the federal funds rate. Nine of 10 FOMC members voted to keep rates unchanged. The Fed reportedly dropped its pledge to be “patient” on widely anticipated rate cuts, meaning it could be poised to act. Also, Reuters said, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stopped referring to below-target inflation as “transient”. Reading between the lines gold traders took the message and ran with it, with the precious metal’s price hitting a five-year high.

Economic slowdown - Macroeconomic growth is falling all over the world. Joblessness is not peculiar to India, jobs are falling across the globe and investors are not comfortable opening their purse strings due to the uncertain economic and political environment. Hence, the cash will be parked in the safest haven, the value of which could possibly never come to zero.

US-China trade war - The other reason for gold being on a tear is the risk of the ongoing trade war spiralling into a currency war. If that happens, gold will turn into a bigger monetary asset, it will gain further.4he likelihood of more central banks joining in the race to buy gold will increase with the increase in anxiety about an uncertain future. Gold will also play as the most important asset class as global risks in equity markets rise.

Geopolitical tensions - Concerns arising out of mounting trade war and geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran have added to the dollar weakness and therefore lending an extra shine to gold. On June 25, gold hit its highest in six years, selling at Rs 35,800 per 10 grams, clawing back to 2013 level when it had touched the highest due to government’s desperate measure of an unprecedented import duty hike on the yellow metal

The result was an immediate jump in the gold prices. The rise in gold futures was even more dramatic, with gold for delivery in August rocketing to a fresh high $1,366.60. The last time bullion was priced that high was just over five years ago.

Weak Dollar - gold prices share an inverse relation with the dollar. When the dollar, the world’s most powerful currency loses shine, gold takes over from there. In the month of June, it shined the most, boosted on the back of a weakness in the dollar after the US Federal Reserve signalled it would cut interest rates, going forward, as the US economy was sagging.

Trade, economic and geopolitical uncertainty have seen safe-haven demand return and pushed prices higher.

Apart from this news what made headlines was the G20 summit which ended with a lot of positives and negatives.
Positives- Finally the US and China formally agreed for a re-talk of their completely stopped talks 6 weeks ago.

Negatives - Trump looked desperate for any kind of deal with China, which compelled markets to believe that there is some kind of deterioration of the US economy.  This happened following his face-saving comment on Huawei and later Kudley clarified that there is no big relief for this Chinese company.

His visit to the North Korean border didn’t go down well with the markets.
Some important numbers that market will track in the week are-
• China Manufacturing PMI
• US Manufacturing PMI

The month ended with a lot of glitters for gold as it claimed 6 years high of $1422 and is expected to see big ranges this week if there some kind of news coming in  from
• Economic data
• Trump
• China

Based on the futures markets we can say that if gold crosses 34005 then we can expect a rally of 34250- 34400. If it drops below 34005 then e can expect a further fall between 33875 to 33625.

Markets should wait for more stability

Last week, the price of gold spiked above $1,400 per ounce, a level that, signals the beginning of a new bull market for gold.

Many factors have been driving gold’s price higher, including recent changes in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s outlook that increased the chances of future rate cuts, the European Central Bank’s comments from earlier this month signalling that further rate cuts may also be a possibility in Europe, falling U.S. Treasury rates and a declining U.S. dollar.

The surge in the price of gold following the Federal Reserve meeting indicated a material change in market behaviour as the adjustments to the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) fuel better for lower US interest rates.

Some disappointing numbers coming in from the US strengthened gold prices further.
The US economy showed fresh worrisome signs on Monday as home sales and consumer confidence sank. Sales fell 7.8% to a five-month low in a sign that low rates aren't spurring activity. Consumer confidence also dove to 121.5 from 131.0 as the expectations survey cratered. Those numbers added to the pessimism in the US dollar early and lifted gold for the sixth day.

On a day filled with economic data and Fed speakers, it was St Louis Fed President James Bullard who stole the market's attention with a hint that a rate-cutting cycle isn't coming. Instead of a series of rate cuts, Bullard implied there would be one or two. 

Like a typical Bollywood masala movie, there were a lot of twists and turns that continued on Fed chief and other Fed members as FED GUV had appeared just before Powell’s Speech on 25th June, and he said that an emergency is not beyond the realm for Fed.
Later Powell came out and stated that Fed and the independent Body don’t come under political pressure and that one weak data doesn’t necessarily mean a weak economy.

However, comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, a 2019 voting member on the FOMC, suggested the central bank will insulate the US economy with an “insurance cut” as the official insists that a reduction of “50 basis points would be overdone.”

Moreover, Chairman Jerome Powell pointed out that the baseline outlook for the US economy “remains favourable and it seems as though the FOMC will take a more reactionary approach in managing monetary policy as the central bank head pledges to “closely monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook and will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion.”

With that said, details of a US-China trade deal may ultimately lead to a minor adjustment in monetary policy, but Chairman Powell and Co. may have little choice but to re-establish a rate cutting cycle as the Trump administration continues to rely on tariffs and sanctions to push its agenda.

These price movements had a spill effect in the domestic markets too. Local gold prices hit a record ₹35,960 per 10 grams on Tuesday, having jumped more than 10% over the past month. People generally don’t tend to buy gold in such high volatile markets. Such high jump in prices is welcomed with a dampening demand as investors and consumers would prefer to buy gold in a more stabilised market.

So all in all, the DOW turned weak. The US 10y yields did not gain and still hover 2.00%. This is one indicator that rate cut will be there and the dovish view has to be maintained by FED and that’s the reason that gold cannot be bought at $1405-$1425.
We would advise markets to wait for more stability and clarity on the global economic front.

Uncertainty High, Gold High

Gold prices have surged this month, passing $1,400 an ounce for the first time since 2013.
Gold is headed for its best week in three years with it set to close near $1,400 per ounce.
Sentiments in markets are bullish and it’s quite simple to state the reasons for the same.

Everything from dovish central banks, technical indicators, negative-yielding bonds and fears of a military strike between the US and Iran are all working in favour of higher bullion prices.

The best performing metal over the past 15 days was gold, up 4.26%. Initially gold traders and analysts were quite neutral on their price outlook for gold. They thought gold will remain more or less stabilised until it hit a five-year high this week and broke above $1,400 per ounce. Bullion got a huge boost after the Federal Reserve kept interested rates unchanged on Wednesday and signalled a readiness to cut rates due to increased economic uncertainties.

Another reason why gold is back in the limelight is that investors are seeking havens amid slowing global growth due to the fallout from the U.S.-China trade dispute. Furthermore, central banks are globally adopting a more dovish tone.

Last week on Wednesday, the Fed left its key rate unchanged and it dropped a reference to being “patient” on borrowing costs and forecast a larger miss of their 2% inflation target this year. The greenback weakened to erase its 2019 gains while the yellow metal strengthened.
In the past week alone the price shot up almost 10 per cent, to $US1408.80 an ounce, with the depreciation of the Australian dollar pushing the price in local currency terms to record levels above $2000 an ounce.
The movement in the past week points to one of the factors driving the price. The 9.8 per cent spike appears to have been a direct response to last week’s US Federal Reserve Board’s meeting, which signalled likely cuts to US official interest rates later this year.

Gold prices rallied to six-year highs last week and continued posting gains on Monday at $1,403 per ounce. In the move to reduce its dependence on the dollar, China has been piling up its reserves, which has added to the precious metal’s resurgence.

The People’s Bank of China has purchased more than 70 tons of gold since December, according to the World Gold Council (WGC). Before that, the Chinese central bank had not reported an increase in gold reserves for more than two years, and the official figures remained unchanged from October 2016 to November 2018.

In fact, it’s not just China. Central banks generally have been diversifying their reserves away from US Treasuries. According to the World Gold Council, they bought 145.5 tonnes of gold in the first quarter of this year, the most since 2013
Central banks continue to show their love for gold. Kazakhstan raised its gold holdings to 11.93 million ounces in May, up from 11.79 million ounces in April. Russia’s climbed from 70.2 million ounces to 70.42 in May. Turkey was also up to 16.03 million ounces in May from 15.99 in April. Additionally, Turkey saw it's gold reserves rise $167 million this week from the previous week to now total $21.7 million worth of reserves, according to central bank data.

President Trump might be starting a currency “war,” in addition to the ongoing trade war. After the European Central Bank (ECB) announced it was prepared to cut interest rates further below zero, Trump published a series of tweets accusing the bank of unfair competition. Trump has spoken of reigning in the dollar, which would likely be positive for the price of gold, as the two have historically had an inverse relationship.

President Trump’s threat to put tariffs on Mexican imports led to the gold price jumping in June. By linking tariffs to non-trade issues, Trump has increased the range of issues that could be complicated with tariffs and hence raised the level of uncertainty. Although the threat of tariffs lasted for only a week, gold held on to its gains.

The world’s two largest economies US and China have been involved in a trade conflict since March 2018. In the latest escalation, the US increased tariffs to 25% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. China, in response, introduced duties of 25% on 5,000 US products worth $60 billion.

The US-China trade dispute is ongoing and the US is holding trade talks with Japan and the EU this year. In addition, the UK still has to leave the EU, so economic uncertainty looks likely to remain high, giving investors several reasons to look to gold as a safe haven.

Trade War pushes gold prices high

Gold prices ended last week on a high note as prices rose on Friday over the escalating US China trade war. Gold posted a weekly rise as the United States raised tariffs on Chinese goods and increased fears of a global economic slowdown, with a weaker dollar also offering support to the precious metal.

On May 9, the US government announced that since May 10, 2019, the tariff rate imposed on the $200 billion list of goods imported from China has been increased from 10% to 25%.

The above measures by the United States have led to an escalation of Sino-US economic and trade frictions, contrary to the consensus between China and the United States on resolving trade differences through consultations, jeopardizing the interests of both sides and not meeting the general expectations of the international community.

The United States intensified a tariff war with China on Friday by hiking levies on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods amid talks to rescue a trade deal. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was in no hurry to sign a trade deal with China.
Uncertainty over the real impact on [the] U.S. economy and Chinese economy was driving gold prices higher.

Gold pieces rallied over the following-

• The levy of increased tariffs by the Trump government has increased the demand for safe haven assets like gold and bonds mainly because equities saw a sharp drop over the trade war. Rise in demand ultimately resulted in a rise in gold prices
• Another spill over effect of the trade war can be seen in the fact that the US Federal Reserved may be forced to cut interest rates which will further result in a rise in the yellow metal.
• Global anxiety has also seen an uptick as U.S. bombers arrived at a U.S. base in Qatar. The bombers have been sent to the Middle East to counter what Washington describes as threats from Iran.
• Bullion was also supported by a weaker dollar which fell after data showed a smaller-than-expected rise in the U.S. consumer price index last month.

Initially markets were expected that a trade deal will be struck between the two biggest economies of the world. However what happened over the weekends was much beyond market expectations.

A full-scale trade war between the US and China began. This war of words is closer than ever after Beijing hit back with retaliatory tariffs on Monday. The Chinese Yuan fell by more than 1%, prompting a selloff in copper, while gold jumped $11 to 1299 and Bitcoin hits $7400. USD fell across the board on reports that some Chinese scholars have mentioned Beijing taking the "nuclear option" -- selling US treasuries. Risk trades have been hit hard to start the week with safe haven assets surging.
After vowing over the weekend to "never surrender to external pressure", Beijing defied President Trump's demands that it not resort to retaliatory tariffs and announced plans to slap new levies on $60 billion in US goods.

• China Says to raise tariffs on  some US goods wef June 1
• China Says to raise tariffs on  $60B of U.S. goods
• China says to raise tariffs on  2493 U.S. goods to 25%
• China may stop purchasing US agricultural products :GLOBAL TIMES
• China may reduce Beoing orders: GLOBAL TIMES
• China additional tariffs do not include U.S. crude oil
• China raises tariff on US LNG to 25% w.e.f. June 1
• China to raise tariffs on import of  U.S. rare Earths to 25%


Here's a breakdown of how China will impose tariffs on 2,493 US goods. The new rates will take effect at the beginning of next month.
• 2,493 items to be subjected to 25% tariffs.
• 1,078 items to be subject to 20% of tariffs
• 974 items subject to 10% of tariffs
• 595 items continue to be levied at 5% tariffs


In further bad news for American farmers, China might stop purchasing agricultural products from the US, reduce its orders for Boeing planes and restrict service trade.
China's announcement of counter tariffs acted as a booster for gold prices and resulted in its rise. There have been talks in the market that the Peoples bank of China may start dumping Treasury’s. But will it also dump US stocks and real estate? Well now we get concrete reasons behind the piling of gold reserves by the biggest gold consumer of the world.

Gold struggles to sustain bullish sentiments

Gold performed well in April. In fact it had a fairly moderate performance given the fact that a lot of macro factors were playing around its prices. US equities, Fed comments, US China trade war, were among the key macro factors that were highly influencing gold prices. Still it managed to stay stable for the month of April.

This week too, gold prices were more or less unchanged. Gold prices were little changed on Thursday ahead of Sino - U.S. trade negotiations, while demand for government bonds, Japanese yen and a key technical resistance limited gains for the safe-haven metal.

In fact after a fairly dismal start to the new month, it began to trade upwards and was some $3 higher by the New York close, and then moved higher on Wednesday.

Once again, gold saw some interesting influencers in the market-

Equities - U.S. equities all fell sharply and gold began to trade upwards. Now it’s not clear, whether gold's rise and the fall in equities were interlinked, but probably the two were connected in some respects.

Demand from Indian Markets - Indian demand and imports were reported by Bloomberg to have risen sharply in April, ahead of the Akshaya Tritiya Festival.  This is seen as an auspicious time to buy gold and silver in the sub-continent and, coupled with lower gold prices over the past few weeks, seems to have boosted demand. As Indians celebrated this Festival on 7th May, we saw jewellers and bullion  traders piling their stocks in the month of April, thus resulting in a rise in demand as reported by Bloomberg.

Demand from China - India used to be the world’s largest gold consumer, but has been comfortably overtaken in this position by China in recent years.  The nation’s central bank has been announcing monthly gold purchases again since December last year and in April it reported it added 14.93 tonnes of gold to its reserves – its highest monthly total since it commenced re-reporting monthly increases and the fifth successive month of reported increases.  This reported figure still puts China in 6th place among national holders of gold, almost 280 tonnes behind Russia in fifth place, but we think China’s true gold reserve figure could be far higher, if one takes into account the nation’s track record of holding substantial amounts of gold in accounts it has, in the past, deemed not re-portable to the IMF.

Trade war - Washington has accused Beijing of backtracking on commitments made during trade negotiations and U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to hike existing tariffs on Chinese goods on Friday and impose fresh levies soon if there is no deal.
President Trump’s aggressive statement on raising tariffs on some $200 billion of Chinese imports with a deadline on Friday re-ignited trade war fears.

Supply - Demand - New gold supply is pretty flat at the moment given that there are few significant new gold mining projects coming on stream and the price has not been high enough to stimulate any additional scrap sales.  Even if the gold price rises sharply the lead time taken to bring new projects into production is long.  Indeed higher gold prices could conversely lead temporarily to a production downturn as miners open up lower grade sections to prolong mine lives.  And lower grades at unchanged mill throughput's means lower output.

Keeping the current global scenario in mind, it seems that gold will continue to hold its bullish position for which it has been struggling to sustain since a few months. Nonetheless, any news that will be bad for the world will prove to be good for the yellow metal.

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Gold vs Stocks

Past 3 to 4 years haven’t been that exciting for gold. In fact gold has surfaced to the current $1300 an ounce, a level that was previously seen 6 years ago. Gold has been trading in a tight range for quite some time.

Gold is an investment that people prefer when the times are uncertain. It’s not a type of investment that can be left to itself. There are times that are just right to enter the market. People buy at dips and try to make the most of every opportunity to buy gold. Physical gold also has a very high liquidity which again increases its appeal as an investment asset.

Today we are in a position where gold is liked more as a hedge tool, an asset that gives you protection against uncertainties. And this characteristic of gold helps in keeping its prices high when there is a global crisis. In fact many are even switching over from equities to gold.

Though the first half of 2018 was dull for gold, it did gain momentum in the second half. 2018 on a weekly chart produced 2 clear trends, and some pretty nice ones at that. We started the year flat, and then had a bear trend from May to October, then a nice rally taking it up. If we’re just holding gold all this time, this really won’t matter, but gold still moves and we can’t call it a complete dog over all this time, even though it’s been one from a longer-term perspective.

This year too, till date gold is up 2% and is expected to rise further given the factors that will influence the yellow metal and create bullish sentiments in the market.

Since the high of February, with each lasting a week or two, gold is producing some pretty well-defined moves, including the current upward one.

But just by seeing the current trends it won’t be possible to exactly predict a future upward movement. We need to consider the past too. We at least need to preface this by mentioning the current bull move with gold, and you won’t really discover that by just looking at its year to date, you have to go back to the beginning of the current move in October. It’s not that we can go back in time and buy some then, but if we’re looking to predict a future up move, we need to at least account for how much we’ve moved up thus far.

The number in play here is $1184 an ounce, the low last October 1. This is also around the time where the stock market started to sink, and when money started to flow out of the stock market more, with some making its way into gold.

We’ve been able to sustain a move of 10% through the subsequent stock market rally, so while the bearish turn with stocks may have given us a push forward, the better performance of gold involved more than this, perhaps our looking to recapture the amount that the market oversold it by earlier in the year.

This is what makes us say that gold is expected to rise further. For 6 years now, gold has been unable to move up much past where it is now. This doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. A weak US economy, Fed policies, US China trade war, Brexit, piling gold reserves, bearish stock markets  are some of the many key influencers that will cause a wave in the market and bring about a rally in gold price.

Market Sentiment Bullish

Generally in my blog, I have mentioned about how gold has been behaving, or the=e weekly outlook for gold etc. But in this blog I have mainly picked 4 factors that I personally believe will influence gold prices in the near future. It has been a good year for gold so far and investors believe that gold is here to stay.

A positive sentiment in the market is supported by the following factors-

Weak US dollar - We have always seen that gold is inversely related to the dollar. This relationship has proved to be fruitful strong and table for gold over a period of time. Gold has a tendency to rally when dollar weakens. Sometimes there has been strange behavior where gold and dollar both have declined together. But the situation was different at that time. It happened in an environment when US real yields rose, which depressed gold prices, while real yields elsewhere rose more than US real yields, pushing the US dollar lower. These situations are exceptional. If the US dollar weakens or strengthens in tandem with interest rate spreads than gold prices move in the opposite direction. If the US dollar weakens because of unfavorable spread movements, but US yields still move higher, gold prices will suffer versus the US dollar because gold doesn’t pay interest.

So keeping the exceptions apart, gold prices generally move opposite to the dollar. And in the near term, since dollar is expected to weaken, gold prices are expected to move higher.

Fed -When we mention dollar, we can’t forget to make note of the Fed as time and again dovish comments from Fed have influenced the dollar and furthermore the yellow metal.  The Fed to remain on hold, and other major central bank to hike less and/or later. Less hawkish central banks are a positive development for precious metal prices in general and for gold prices in particular. Moreover we expect the 10 year US Treasury yield and US 10y real yields to decline slightly. This should support gold prices.

Chinese economy - After the US, it’s the Chinese economy that stands second in influencing the yellow metal. The developments in the Chinese Yuan reflect the expectations for the Chinese economy and the US-China trade conflict.  With trade at war, China won’t sit quiet; it may continue to take some actions to strengthen its economy.these measure along with a possible US-China trade deal will support the yuan and gold prices.
Adding to it, we have seen that lately China ah been piling up its gold reserves. China is one of the leading consumers if gold and rising demand will surely push gold prices high.

Optimist sentiment - the technical picture of gold prices still looks positive. Despite the recent sharp decline in prices, prices are still above the 200-day moving average at around USD 1,250 per ounce. We are confident that prices will stay above this level. It is possible that prices drop towards this level and test it, but this would be an opportunity to position for higher gold prices. A sudden short-term rally in the US dollar or a temporary spike in 10y US Treasury yields (not our base scenario) could trigger profit taking on existing net-long gold positions. Later in the year we expect the positive momentum to build and gold prices to rally more strongly.

Go for Gold

Past 6 months have been really great for gold. Gold prices have surged 14% since late August, when the Nasdaq Composite Index last hit a fresh record, and stand at their highest level since last April (* source- the Journal).

Gold has been influenced lately by many factors clubbed together. All these combined, have been pushing gold prices higher despite last years Fed rate hike, so it’s clear that gold is not dependent on just one factor for its price movement. Though US plays an important role in influencing gold prices, currently there are many other factors that need to be considered where gold prices are concerned.

World economies - The recent increase in gold price is in fact a proof that the slowdown has already started. Interestingly though, the increase is not the result of investors seeking a safe haven in a year that seems financially and economically awkward. That is, there are low interest rates in developed economies, higher rates in developing and emerging ones, and hence relatively higher risks of investments. In addition to the above, an increasingly protectionist trend could undermine the flow of global trade and negatively impact countries with economies highly dependent on international trade for their diversification.

Safe haven - Gold prices have climbed as investors uncertain about global growth outlook hedge their portfolios. Amid global political and economic uncertainty, the precious metal has become a compelling choice for money managers seeking to hedge their portfolios at a time of anxiety over economic growth and trade conflicts between the U.S. and its partners.

Central bank buying - In a report by the “Financial Times”, China purchased gold in late 2018, while its last purchase was more than two years ago. Poland, which hasn’t purchased gold since 1998, has lately added to its gold reserves. According to the same report, countries through their central banks have increased their gold purchases by “almost 75 per cent” in 2018. An increase in demand leads to an increase in prices too.

China, the top gold producer and consumer, is beefing up holdings amid signs of slowing growth and uncertainty about whether the trade fight with the U.S. will get resolved.

US trade war - Though the severity of the trade war is hanging loose, but any progress in this regards immediately affects gold. Trump said on Sunday he would delay an increase in tariffs on Chinese goods that had been scheduled for later this week, citing “substantial progress” in Sino-US trade talks over the weekend, and that he and his Chinese counterpart would meet to seal a deal if progress continued. This statement weakened the dollar against the Yuan.

The offshore Yuan strengthened 0.6 per cent to 6.673 Yuan against the dollar, after hitting its highest level since mid-July, on the news that Trump might not raise tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports to 25 per cent from 10 per cent.

As we all know that gold and dollar are inversely related and hence any weakness in the green back pushes the metal prices up.

But what’s interesting to see that annually gold has not generated returns yet, but it still seems to be investors favorite especially when they done know where to park their cash. This favouritism comes amidst the fact there bank deposits are no longer financially viable and other assets in its class aren’t giving that safe haven appeal. 

As a result, the alternative is to go for gold and settle for capital return, an increase in gold price which needs to be high enough to exceed inflation plus profit to make purchasing and holding it worthwhile. The trend in gold price seems to be headed upwards, and it may be a good time to get in, even if the best time to get in was when it was at $1,200 an ounce level.

Gold prices, though hinting at a looming bearish correction on risk-on market sentiments, will remain firmly supported on rising economic uncertainties and heightened geopolitical risks in 2019. Therefore, in light of low interest rates and a lack of clarity with regard to the world’s economic prospects, the gold price is expected to continue climbing. As it does, it may not stop at the $2,000 per ounce level realized two years post the 2008 financial crisis, but possibly higher.

A similar trend was witnessed post the increase in 1971, except that in every cycle, previous records for the highest gold price reached are usually broken. Not only that, the time elapsed between one cycle and the next is getting shorter.

Key data shifts market sentiments

Last week a lot was happening for gold globally and in the domestic market. While there was important data released from the US, in the domestic market too all eyes were glued to the interim budget. While internationally, Fed rate hike is the topic of discussion, in India Gold duty cut was also being discussed strongly. We shall discuss the budget later.

Let’s have a look at the key economic numbers and how it affected gold and dollar.

• Nonfarm payrolls rose more than 300K, which was significantly better than the 165K forecast and matched December's +300k rise
• Manufacturing activity accelerated 
• University of Michigan Sentiment index was revised slightly higher for the month of January. 
• Stocks extended their rise. 

Not only does this report tell us that the government shutdown had limited impact on the labor market but after revisions, job gains averaged 241K over the past 3 months. However even though the labor market is on fire, wage growth is slowing and there's a very good chance of downward revisions next month. More importantly the change in the Federal Reserve's monetary policy statement is significant enough to keep the US dollar under pressure so don't trust the rally.

Although employment continues to expand, wage growth remains tepid. The report said that average hourly earnings increased 0.1% last month or by 3 cents, missing expectations. Economists were expecting to see wages increase 0.3%. For the last 12 months wages increased 3.2%. The U.S. dollar rebounded against all of the major currencies on Friday on the back stronger economic data.  A lot of the Fed's concerns stem from events like Brexit, funding for the US government and US-China trade issues that could be resolved over the next few months

The gold market saw some selling pressure Friday after the U.S. labor market showed strong growth in January, according to the latest government employment data. This sentiment continued as the week opened on a negative note for gold.

Gold prices dipped slightly on Monday as the dollar held steady on upbeat U.S. jobs and factory data that prompted markets to reduce bets on a rate cut later this year.

In the Indian markets, gold markets weren’t much active as while jewellers held off on purchases in anticipation of the country’s budget presentation on Friday.
India’s bullion industry has been urging a tax reduction to combat smuggling, which has increased since the country raised the import duty to 10 percent in August 2013 to narrow its current account deficit.

However, the interim budget presented by the Indian government on Friday did not include a change in the duty and hence not much activity was seen.
But India’s counterpart China, was showing a different t picture altogether. The demand for gold in China was quite on the rise.

On the occasion of Lunar year (which falls in the first week of February), generally, gold is considered as one of the best gifting medium. Demand for physical gold gathered usually increases in China ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Another interesting gold purchase figure that saw record highs was from the central banks. 

Official gold purchases reached a new record in 2018 as central banks continued to diversify away from the U.S. Dollar.  Not only was 2018 a banner year for central bank gold purchases, but it was also the highest amount for more than five decades.  Central banks haven’t bought this much gold in one year since Nixon ended the convertibility of the U.S. Dollar into gold in 1971.

Despite the latest economic reports, the economy is still slowing but if Congress passes a permanent spending increase, the UK reaches a withdrawal agreement with the EU and the US forgoes further tariffs on China, 2 rate hikes this year could still be justified. With that in mind, any one of these discussions could go south, sending the markets into turmoil. Press conferences after every meeting this year gives the Fed the flexibility to change policy as needed and so far, domestic and global uncertainty justifies the need for patience. There's not much in the way of US data, so the dollar could resume its slide.

Gold looks moderately bullish

This week is all about the much awaited FOMC meet. The Federal Open Market Committee meets between Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, and Chairman Jerome Powell is widely expected to acknowledge growing risks to the U.S. economy as global momentum weakens.

Speculations prevailed in the market that the Federal Reserve will keep its interest rates unchanged during its two-day policy meet. This led to a spike in gold prices, nearing a seven month high during the day. But later gold steadied.

Gold has a tendency to appreciate on expectations of lower interest rates, which reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Currently, the European Central Bank is seeing downside risks to the economy. ECB President Mario Draghi warned last week that a dip in the euro zone’s economy could be more pronounced, comments seen as signalling a delay in the bank’s first interest rate hike.
Amongst this scenario gold is portraying a strong chance of solid upward movement.

Furthermore, the US Fed is also expected to be more accommodative. The Fed has already raised its interest rates four times last year. It has even given hints that it might life borrowing costs twice in 2019.  Analysts noted that Federal Reserve policymakers recently lowered their forecasts for 2019 from three rate increases to two. This should support gold.

This uncertainty is bringing about a rally in gold prices. Moreover, global equities, particularly Asian stocks rose higher, as Wall Street rallied after a deal was announced to reopen the U.S. government following a prolonged shutdown that had shaken investor sentiment.

There were great concerns over a slowing global economic growth and this shutdown has only increased the worries of the market. Not forgetting, the, signs of stress in corporate earnings and a still unresolved Sino-U.S. trade war.

Meanwhile we also expect a rise in demand for gold, especially in Asia. Usually gold is bought in Asian countries for weddings, occasions etc. But lately gold is being purchased for investment purposes. Investment demand for gold rises with an increase in wealth. In recent years, both China and India have rapid increase in the demand for gold, especially China. These countries have been active drivers of holding the metal in its physical form.

With regard to preservation of wealth, gold has an immensely long track record; providing a hedge against inflation, geopolitical risks, natural disasters and other crises. Currently private banks and wealth advisers might typically advise their HNW clients to hold about 3-5% gold in their investment portfolios. While an ETF provides gold exposure and is an excellent tool for short-term trading, physical gold is preferable for medium to long-term investment as it is highly liquid, lacks counterparty risk and affords investors more flexibility. Unlike property or stock funds, physical gold is a highly efficient wealth management tool for estate planning

Since gold has long been used as a safe haven asset the outlook for the yellow metal looks moderately bullish now.

The main trigger for sustained higher gold prices comes in the form of a gradual asset rotation from equities and other risky assets into bonds and safe-haven assets such as gold, as mainstream investors seek protection from market turbulences, potential recessions and growing bearish sentiment.

Moreover, the downside is somewhat limited, with current gold prices representing a floor, as bearish drivers are lacking, fundamentals are neutral and costs for the most expensive producers are close to current prices.

Gold has not Lost its lustre yet

Gold was at a life time high of $1921 an ounce in September 2011 when the US Federal Reserve was concluding its bond buying program (QE). During that period gold was everyone’s favourite metal. But by the end of 2015, gold prices declined to $1046. Sometime around that, the Federal Reserve, led by Janet Yellen has raised its key interest rates for the first time in 7 years. That’s the reason gold plunged. But now it seems that gold is finally emerging from an 8 year bear market. And that’s the reason we feel that gold has not lost its lustre yet.

They say that gold has an inverse relation with the dollar. When the dollar is strong gold is weak and vice versa.

It seems that gold has finally made a comeback and there are many factors responsible for this -
Gold seems to be driven by the fact that the current political standoff in Washington will lead to an escalation in crisis. Further the longest government shutdown in U.S history along with a gradually growing economy and rising global debt levels will add fuel to the fire. And when geopolitical issues are mentioned we can’t ignore the fact that the trade tensions between US and China have not been resolved yet. These factors strengthen the speculation of a push in gold prices.

Even though the dollar was up during the week, markets still prefer to stay loyal to gold.

Market watchers say the dollar may also come under pressure as the U.S. government shutdown begins to weigh on domestic growth. Having said that, gold prices are bound to rise.

Is 2019 the year for Gold

2018 has a highly volatile and fluctuating year for gold as it faces many headwinds. A strong dollar, rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve (the Fed) coupled with accommodative policy from other central banks and a US economy buoyed by tax cuts, fuelled positive investor sentiment and pushed US stock prices higher through the start of October.

However, as geopolitical and macroeconomic risks increased, emerging market stocks pulled back and developed market stocks eventually followed.

As 2019 begun, have seen a sharp deterioration in risk sentiment following soft macroeconomic data in December and renewed concerns about the future direction of growth, particularly the risk of U.S. growth catching down towards weaker economies. December was a volatile month which generated a safe haven appeal for the yellow metal.

Lately gold has outperformed other assets in its class. Risk assets took a big hit in 2018, with the stock market suffering the worst in December but gold fared much better as it grew around 4 percent.

If we see the demand graph for gold for the next 6 to 8 months, we expect it to rise as it will benefit from the interplay of market risk and economic growth, with key dynamics, such as financial market instability, monetary policy, the dollar and structural economic reforms.

Rising geopolitical tensions- A fragile political alliance in Spain along with fending off secessionism, an instable monetary union in Italy, and internal turmoil in Europe and lastly social unrest in France- all of these clubbed together gave a very instable global picture. This growing uncertainty and the expansion of protectionist economic policies are making gold an increasingly attractive hedge tool.

Slow economic growth- Weak economic numbers coming from the US has spooked the markets. The U.S. manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) hit a 15-month low in the same month. Manufacturers' confidence in business also slipped to the lowest level in nearly two years. This in turn affects the rate hike frequency thus influencing gold prices.

Federal Reserve’s monetary policy- The Fed had been tightening monetary policy aggressively. But on Jan. 4 Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signalled Wall Street that policymakers will be patient with policy moves and are attuned to the messages coming from markets. While gold may face headwinds from higher interest rates and dollar strength but currently the effect of the same seems to be limited on gold as the Feds stance is neutral. Any delay in rate hike will push gold prices higher.

Demand for gold as a hedge tool- Globally, there were net positive flows into gold-backed exchange-traded funds in 2018. However, North American funds suffered significant outflows in the second and third quarters, with this trend only reversing in the fourth quarter as risks began to intensify. But in 2019, global investors are expected to favour gold as an effective diversifier and hedge against systemic risk on multiple global metrics

Central Bank Buying- In addition, central banks continue to buy gold to diversify their foreign reserves and counterbalance fiat currency risk, particularly as emerging market central banks tend to have high allocations of US treasuries. Higher demand once again means higher prices for gold.

Time and again it is proved that gold has delivered returns and has performed better than other assets in its class. Moreover, its liquidity and risk adjusted returns makes it an investors favourite and hence its looks more relevant this year.

Gold benefits from equity slide

Reserves Reserves Reserves - it was all about piling up gold in the past week. And when I Say piling I mean in huge numbers.

Peoples Bank China shocked the world when it’s released the figures of gold reserves that it sits on.  China's gold reserves had been steady at 59.240 million fine troy ounces from October 2016 to November 2018, according to data from the People’s Bank of China, and suddenly jumped to 59.560 million fine troy ounces at end-December.

The People’s Bank of China increased holdings to 59.56 million ounces by the end of December, or about 1,853 metric tons, from 59.24 million ounces previously, according to data on the central bank’s website. They had been unchanged since about 130,000 ounces were added in October 2016.
China has long been wanting to reduce its dependency on the US dollar. The ongoing trade war is threatening its economic growth.

Several large emerging economies, which today fuel most of global growth prospects, and major oil exporters, are intrigued by the idea of re-coupling gold with a multilateral currency basket to avoid excessive exposure to US dollar-denominated energy and commodity markets.

 Spot gold had its strongest month in almost two years as those fears spurred a whirlpool in equities and the dollar and boosted demand for the precious metal as a haven. And hence the world’s biggest producer and consumer boosted holdings of bullion.

But it was not an overnight thing. China has been piling reserves since quite some time. It had last released the figures in 2016 and now suddenly. And it’s not just China that has been doing this.  As Bloomberg reports, Poland and Hungary surprised the market in 2018 by adding to their gold holdings for the first time in many years.

Furthermore, there have been interesting shifts in gold reserves. While advanced economies, such as the US and Germany, still own most global gold reserves, the US has increased its gold holdings in the past decade only marginally, while Germany has been forced to cut its reserves. In contrast, China has tripled its reserves, while Russia has nearly quintupled its gold (after dumping billions of US Treasuries), despite rounds of sanctions.

Fresh comments coming in from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday, got in a fresh rally in gold prices. The statements released boosted the chances that the central bank will pause interest-rate increases. Speculation that the Federal Reserve may pause its interest rate hikes has given further strength to gold’s rally into the new year and assets in bullion-backed exchange-traded funds are at a seven-month high. Spot gold was trading 0.5 percent higher at $1,291.83 an ounce as the week ended. Strengthening of the yellow metal has further weakened the greenback.

Gold was out of favour for much of 2018 as a result of the strong dollar and interest rate increases in the US. The precious metal traded as low as $1,174 an ounce in August, despite rising geopolitical tensions.

However, sentiment began to improve towards the end of the year, as volatility increased further and US stocks suffered.

THOSE analysts who believe that fear has made a comeback argue that gold is benefiting as equities slide and investors are increasingly concerned about the economic prospects of the United States (US), China, Europe and Japan. Yet, even at $1,290, gold still remains more than 30 percent behind its all-time high of $1,898 in September 2011 amid the US debt-limit crisis.

Will gold witness an upward trend soon

Gold was following a wave like movement during the week as we saw it moving up till Thursday and then diving down by the end of the week.
Gold edged higher for the second consecutive session on Thursday and was placed at the top end of its weekly trading range, around the $1227-28 region during the trading hours.

Spot gold has stood strong against a weaker dollar, with the precious metal’s spot price hovering at around $1228 – one of the highest levels it has seen since 11 November where it hit $1230 per ounce.

The Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments that rates are just below the neutral level now triggered a broad-based US Dollar weakness and prompted some short-covering trade around the dollar-denominated commodity. This weakness further strengthened the yellow metal and pushed prices higher.

The USD bearish pressure now seems to have abated, though expectations of a slowdown in interest rate hikes, reinforced by sliding US Treasury bond yields, kept pushing the non-yielding yellow metal higher through the mid-European session on Thursday.

Even the prevalent positive mood around European equity markets, which tends to undermine demand for traditional safe-haven assets, did little to prompt any fresh selling around the precious metal or stall the ongoing positive momentum.

The price of gold shot up on Thursday, following Bank of England statement (on 28th November), in which the BoE forecast the UK economy’s performance in the face of the various Brexit outcomes and warned of serious economic contraction with any ‘No Deal’ Brexit.

But post the U.S. data released on Friday, the dollar which was lying flat, gained momentum. Reports released were above expectations and this strengthened the dollar thus pushing gold prices down.

Further, Gold prices fell in the domestic markets too. Investors took this dip as an opportunity to buy. The appreciating (Indian) rupee has brought down prices. At this price level, jewellers and retail buyers are quite comfortable in making purchases.

Local gold prices were trading near their lowest in about three months as an appreciation in the rupee made overseas buying cheaper. Physical gold demand in the world’s second biggest bullion consumer India got a fillip this week from a slide in local rates due to gains in the rupee, while buying was steady in other top Asian hubs.

Though gold hasn’t shown an eye catching gain, it still holds importance in the portfolio of many. If we see closely, gold has been falling since the past seven years. It’s down by more than a third over that period. So clearly, the metal is cheap and makes itself more appealing as a safe haven asset.

The precious metal has been in free fall most of 2018, losing roughly 11% of its value since its January peak. And this year's performance is a continuation of the longer-term trend.

Gold has slowly been trending higher since August. The metal is up a little more than 3% since then. And prices appear to be hitting what analysts describe as "higher lows."

Gold prices have been falling for years. Investors recently hit their most extreme negative sentiment levels in nearly two decades. And now, the price is starting to move back up.

With investors now pricing in only one more rate hike in 2019, markets feel positive for gold and hence it has once again found acceptance in an investment portfolio. Will we see gold in an upward trend soon? Well the answer lies in 2019 as 2018 is about to end and which a holiday mood in the air markets are not expected to be much volatile in the coming days.

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.

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.

Gold - once disowned ; now being adopted

After tentatively stabilizing in September, the gold price staged a $50/oz, rebound in early October, setting up the potential for a further short covering rally. 

Gold traded higher on Friday and is heading for the third straight weekly increase on the back of a rise of demand due to equity market volatility and a softer dollar. The market opened the day at 1229.70/1230.70. After the open, gold prices traded between a high level of 1230.46/1231.46

The gold in euro terms was trading at a three-month high near €1,070 per troy ounce. The conflict between Italy and the EU [European Union] over the Italian draft budget for 2019 is escalating.

The EU too seems to be taking a strong line against member states (Poland and Hungary are examples) which diverge politically from the consensus policies and rules. There is perhaps a fear here that the EU might break up if too many member states fall out with the EU hierarchy, which is probably why such a hard line is being taken on Brexit. A consensus deal is in both sides’ interests, but intransigence may well win the day, with adverse economic consequences for the U.K. and the EU as a whole.

Concerns that the euro-zone crisis could flare up again should support demand for gold as a safe haven.

Lately, US have been very aggressive in its trade policies and imposition of sanctions against countries like Russia and China. Indirectly the other counties that wish to trade with these sanctions hit economies will also suffer in the long run. They too will become victims of U.S. trade sanctions and imposed tariffs.

This is the main reason that countries like Russia and China have accelerated their gold reserves. Leading countries are trying to reduce dollar dependency, thus replacing it with gold.

The Russian central bank has announced yet another increase in its gold reserves in September – this time it has added a massive 1.2 million troy ounces (37.3 tonnes) to the gold in its Forex holdings. This brings the overall total to 65.5 million ounces (2,037.3 tonnes) and means it has added just short of 200 tonnes of gold to its reserves in the first 9 months of the current year which represents an increased acceleration in its reserve increases over the prior few years

The big European holders – Italy and France – in the global gold reserve table which respectively report holdings of 2,451.8 tonnes and 2,436 tonnes.

China on the other hand has been constantly increasing its reserves but not reporting to the IMF. It’s expected to be in the sixth place, but it could be higher given that the numbers are not reported to. The current trade war between the US and China has propelled China to reduce its dependence on dollar holdings in its reserves and perhaps use that money to buy more gold, but yes, without reporting it to the IMF.

Chinese officials and academics have intimated in the past that they would like to at least reduce the dollar’s dominant position in world trade and as a global reserve currency. It is already taking measures towards this by negotiating oil and other contracts in Yuan (convertible into gold if wanted) rather than in dollars, which is another reason why it may be building its gold reserves as well.
As we have mentioned before gold may be facing short term headwinds, but longer term prospects look to be ever increasingly positive.

The sentiment shift is still subtle, but it’s both real and widespread. After a few years of being ignored and/or dismissed as basically useless and almost being disowned by investors, gold is stable again, attracting positive press and increasing accumulation by big investors.

Time To Add Gold In Your Portfolio

Gold has fallen more than 8% this year as concern about trade disputes; currency weakness in emerging markets and rising US interest rates has strengthened the dollar, making bullion more expensive for buyers with other currencies.

TRADE DISPUTE - Gold is trading back above $1,200/oz ahead of the expected announcement from the White House that China is about to get hit by additional tariffs on goods valued at up to $200 billion. The latest US trade balance for July showed the US in the red by $50.1 billion while the trade deficit with China rose to a fresh record of $36.8 billion.

Investors have been waiting for a fresh round to be fired in the Sino-U.S. trade war after a public comment period for proposed U.S. tariffs on a list of $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, which includes some consumer products, ended late last week.

With his domestic agenda being challenged by the upcoming midterm elections, less-than-flattering comments from White House insiders, and the ongoing Mueller investigation, President Trump is unlikely to step back from his fight with the Chinese.

The prospect of an escalated trade war continues to make matters worse for emerging market bonds, stocks and currencies.

The trade war and its effect on the USD/CNY exchange rate remains the primary determinant of Gold prices in dollar terms. Until either the trade war ends or the dollar falls, either of its own accord or due to a Fed reversal in policy, USD/CNY is likely to go higher and gold lower.

The escalating trade war crisis continued to spill its effect on gold in the past week too. Gold prices rose on Friday due to a lower dollar and jitters about an escalation in the U.S.-China trade dispute after fresh threats by President Donald Trump, although bullion is still heading for its fifth straight monthly decline.

Spot gold was up 0.6 percent at $1,206.19 an ounce during Fridays trading hours- a gain of 4 percent from the 19-month low of $1,159.96 hit on Aug. 16.



CURRENCY WEAKNESS - Lately positive U.S. economic numbers have been showing signs of a strengthening U.S economy. This has further strengthened the dollar against major basket of currencies. In India too rupee was at a record low of 72.17, sliding by 44 paise against the US dollar on rising demand from US dollars by bankers and importers.

Like the trade war, the dollar prices continued to show its effect on gold this week too.
The dollar traded higher against a basket of currencies on Monday amid fears of a potentially major escalation in the China-U.S. trade conflict, while Sweden's crown rose following the previous day's election.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Friday that he was ready to slap tariffs on virtually all Chinese imports into the United States, threatening duties on another $267 billion of goods in addition to the $200 billion already facing the risk of duties.

The index also found support after data showed U.S. jobs growth accelerated in August and wages notched their largest annual increase in more than nine years, boosting the prospect of faster interest rate rises by the Federal Reserve.

Non-Farm payrolls led to some modest downward pressure on gold. Furthermore, though the dollar will continue to weigh on gold, and as long as the dollar is strong, gold will remain constrained.

RISING INTEREST RATES - Gold prices held steady during Asian trade on Tuesday as investors remained on the sidelines amid expectations of a U.S. interest rate hike this month and on fears of an escalation in the Sino-U.S. trade war.

Strong U.S. payrolls data last week cemented expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in September, in what would be its third hike this year, with expectations of one rise more in December.

Higher rates increase bond yields, making the non-yielding bullion less attractive and tend to boost the dollar.

Now what’s interesting to note is that though gold is being hammered lately, financial advisors in Asia, are suggesting their clients that this is the right time to include gold in their portfolio. They have been asking them to take advantage of dips and to stockpile to protect assets against pounding equity markets.

Gold has sold off over the past few months as USD interest rates have increased, so there is more opportunity to buy. For clients who do not have an allocation of gold in their portfolios, now is the time to add gold.

Political Turmoil Expected to influence Gold

Gold turned negative on Tuesday as U.S. Treasuries rose after the United States and Mexico struck a trade deal, with analysts saying ongoing U.S.-China tensions would continue to weigh. Spot gold lost 0.4 percent to $1,206.39 per ounce during Tuesdays trading hours.

Following suit, Gold price fell on Thursday and is set to record a fifth monthly fall on expectations of a higher interest rate, while the dollar also edged lower.  Powell’s speech came after U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month that he was “not thrilled” about the Fed’s decision to hike rates. A potential hike in interest rates in general decreases demand for gold, which yields no interests.

Meanwhile, the U.S. reported on Wednesday the strongest growth of its second-quarter GDP in a decade, expanding at an annual rate of 4.2%.

Markets widely expect the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates in September and December following last week’s Jackson Hole symposium, where Fed’s chairman Jerome Powell defended policy of interest rate hikes, adding that he expected a low but gradual growth of interest rates as inflation is reaching the country’s 2% target.

On the other hand, metals investors are wondering if political turmoil could bring in volatility several for gold and silver prices.

Furthermore, what gained focus over the week were the recent prosecutions of prominent Trump campaign figures that now have Democrats giddy over the possibility of being handed grounds for impeachment. The chances for impeachment did get a boost, although it would seem to hinge primarily on whether the Republicans lose the House and Senate in November. It’s a very daunting political task. Only two presidents have ever been impeached – Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Neither were convicted in the Senate and removed from office, however. That can only be done with a ⅔ majority vote.

If the threat of impeachment somehow becomes more credible based on the revelation of more serious crimes, then all bets are off. It will move markets. But, for now at least, it remains a long shot.

Major political turmoil is just one of many reasons to buy insurance in the form of gold and silver bullion. Investors can add upheaval in Washington to a longer list, which, at the moment, also includes:

• Precious metals looking oversold.
• Extremely bullish relative positioning of banks versus speculators in the Commitment of Traders data.