Gold News

Gold Price Gains vs. Falling Dollar, "Readmitted as Prudent Asset Class" as Silver Finds "Strong" Demand from India & China

The Gold Price rose versus the US Dollar in Asian and London trade on Wednesday, recovering almost one-third of this year's 4.5% loss but again holding flat against all other major currencies.

European stock markets ticked lower, while government bonds and commodities both rose.

The German finance ministry said today it "roundly rebuts" claims in weekly magazine Die Zeit that Berlin wants a restructuring of Greek government debt, with bondholders forced to take losses.

"In the medium term, we remain cautious on gold until it demonstrates strength against equities, which also pay dividends," said HSBC Global Asset Managements Charles Morris to Bloomberg earlier.

Between Oct. and end-Dec., Morris's Absolute Returns fund halved its 12% allocation to Gold Investment, he confirmed.

But "After a lengthy absence, [other] asset managers and central bankers are readmitting gold back into the group of prudent asset classes," writes Thomas Kaplan, chairman of New York's Tigris Financial advisory and asset-management group, in today's Financial Times.

Says Kaplan, the global financial crisis has reminded portfolio managers that Gold Bullion "is the only major financial asset that does not represent someone else's obligation to repay."

Over in Silver Bullion, meantime, London's wholesale market continued to suffer "noticeable tightness " according to one dealer, "exacerbated" on Wednesday morning by "several reports of difficulty sourcing physical silver and short-dated borrowing."

Silver Investment demand from private investors has already led to record monthly sales at the US Mint, according to one analysis.

Users of low-cost online exchange BullionVault have raised their physical Silver Bullion holdings by 11% so far this month.

The giant iShares Silver ETF Trust fund, in contrast, has continued to shed metal, with fund managers and other investors selling 3% of their net position between New Year and last night.

Ahead of next month's Chinese New Year celebrations, "Demand for silver is [also] strong in China," says Walter de Wet in Standard Bank's Commodity Daily, noting last month's $1-per-ounce premium in Shanghai over benchmark London prices.

Compounded by falling Chinese exports and rising Indian demand, however, "On a relative basis, we believe silver looks overvalued not only to gold, but also relative to [other industrial] metals such as palladium and copper...which also have much tighter underlying fundamentals."

Standard Bank's analysts "do not suggest shorting silver" because of low global interest rates on cash savings. But "we would not be surprised to see a sharp correction in the metal price – especially if the Dollar finds marginal strength."

Wednesday's declining Dollar saw the Silver Price jump to 4-session highs above $29.50 per ounce, even as it held flat against other major currncies.

Priced against the British Pound – now trading at new 8-week highs on the forex market – Gold Bullion held flat for the third session running early Wednesday at £858 per ounce.

Eurozone investors looking to Buy Gold today also saw prices hold unchanged, as the single currency rose to 2-month highs above $1.35.

Buy physical Silver Bullion, free from VAT and counter-party default risk, live online at Bullion Vault...

Adrian Ash

Adrian Ash, BullionVault Gold News

Adrian Ash is director of research at BullionVault, the world-leading physical gold, silver and platinum market for private investors online. Formerly head of editorial at London's top publisher of private-investment advice, he was City correspondent for The Daily Reckoning from 2003 to 2008, and he has now been researching and writing daily analysis of precious metals and the wider financial markets for over 20 years. A frequent guest on BBC radio and television, Adrian is regularly quoted by the Financial Times, MarketWatch and many other respected news outlets, and his views from inside the bullion market have been sought by the Economist magazine, CNBC, Bloomberg, Germany's Handelsblatt and FAZ, plus Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore.

See the full archive of Adrian Ash articles on GoldNews.

Please Note: All articles published here are to inform your thinking, not lead it. Only you can decide the best place for your money, and any decision you make will put your money at risk. Information or data included here may have already been overtaken by events – and must be verified elsewhere – should you choose to act on it. Please review our Terms & Conditions for accessing Gold News.

Follow Us

Facebook Youtube Twitter LinkedIn

 

 

Market Fundamentals