Perth Mint Works Through Weekend as Gold Demand Surges on Price

Australia’s Perth Mint, which refines nearly all of the nation’s bullion, said that demand has jumped to the highest level in five years after prices plunged, with the factory kept open through the weekend to meet orders.

There’s been strong interest, including from the U.S., with buyers speculating that the metal will rebound from the decline, Ron Currie, sales and marketing director, said in a phone interview from Perth.

Bullion fell 14 percent in the two days to April 15, the most since 1983, spurring buyers to increase physical holdings. Billionaire John Paulson, the biggest investor in the largest exchange-traded product backed by bullion, reiterated his bullish view on prices. Coin sales by the U.S. Mint are set for the highest month since December 2009, while premiums to secure supplies in India rose to five times the level before the slump.

“We haven’t seen levels like this since the 2008 global financial crisis,” Currie said yesterday. “Compared to March sales, April sales have doubled or tripled,” he said, without providing figures.

Gold for immediate delivery traded at $1,473.05 an ounce at 8:01 a.m. in Singapore after losing 0.2 percent. While prices have gained 11 percent from a two-year low on April 16, they are still 5.7 percent below the April 11 close before the rout.

Increased physical purchases may help to offset declining holdings in ETPs, which are on course for a record contraction in tonnage terms this month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Holdings have lost 168 tons in April, the data show.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Gold Bears Defy Rally as Goldman Closes Short Wager: Commodities

Hedge funds accumulated their second-biggest bet against gold on record just as prices rallied the most in 15 months on surging demand for coins and jewelry and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ended a recommendation to sell.

The funds and other large speculators held 69,726 so-called short contracts on April 23, within 0.6 percent of the all-time high reached six weeks earlier, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. The net-long position dropped 25 percent to 46,168 futures and options. Net-bullish wagers across 18 U.S.-traded raw materials slid 5 percent, the third decline in four weeks, with cuts in silver, corn and gasoline.

Bullion rallied 11 percent since reaching a two-year low April 16. The U.S. Mint ran out of its smallest gold coin last week, with sales across its products poised for the best month since December 2009, and the U.K. Mint said purchases tripled. Premiums paid by jewelers in India (XAUINR), the biggest importer, to secure supply surged as much as fivefold in 10 days. Goldman said April 23 it closed a bearish recommendation, while saying further declines are likely.

“It’s bizarre that the price has come back so rapidly,” said Donald Selkin, who helps manage about $3 billion of assets as the chief market strategist at National Securities Corp. in New York. “After the big decline, demand jumped like crazy. It’s the old rubber-band theory: You stretch too far, and eventually, it snaps back. Banks came in to buy, and there is record demand for coins around the world.”

(Source: Bloomberg)

WTI Crude Declines to Pare Biggest Weekly Advance Since June

West Texas Intermediate fell for the first time in seven days as some investors speculated the biggest weekly advance since June is excessive.

Futures slid as much as 0.5 percent in New York after rising 2.4 percent yesterday on a drop in U.S. jobless claims. Prices dropped after failing to settle above a technical resistance level. WTI may advance next week on speculation that the European Central Bank will cut its key interest rate to a record low, a Bloomberg survey showed. Brent crude’s premium to WTI fell below $10 a barrel for the first time in 15 months.

“It’s profit-taking after the big gains,” said Tetsu Emori, a commodity fund manager at Astmax Asset Management Inc. in Tokyo. “The trend upward is quite strong. This should be temporary.”

WTI for June delivery slid as much as 48 cents to $93.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $93.31 at 10:24 a.m. Singapore time. The volume of all futures traded was 17 percent below the 100-day average. The contract rose $2.21 to $93.64 a barrel yesterday, posting the highest close since April 10 and the longest run of gains since July. Prices are up 6 percent this week and 1.6 percent this year.

Brent for June settlement declined 43 cents to $102.98 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark grade was at a premium of $9.67 to WTI. It finished at $9.77 yesterday, the narrowest closing spread since Jan. 3, 2012. The gap reached an intraday record of more than $28 a barrel in October 2011.

(Source: Bloomberg)

WTI Crude Declines to Pare Biggest Weekly Advance Since June

West Texas Intermediate fell for the first time in seven days as some investors speculated the biggest weekly advance since June is excessive.

Futures slid as much as 0.5 percent in New York after rising 2.4 percent yesterday on a drop in U.S. jobless claims. Prices dropped after failing to settle above a technical resistance level. WTI may advance next week on speculation that the European Central Bank will cut its key interest rate to a record low, a Bloomberg survey showed. Brent crude’s premium to WTI fell below $10 a barrel for the first time in 15 months.

“It’s profit-taking after the big gains,” said Tetsu Emori, a commodity fund manager at Astmax Asset Management Inc. in Tokyo. “The trend upward is quite strong. This should be temporary.”

WTI for June delivery slid as much as 48 cents to $93.16 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $93.31 at 10:24 a.m. Singapore time. The volume of all futures traded was 17 percent below the 100-day average. The contract rose $2.21 to $93.64 a barrel yesterday, posting the highest close since April 10 and the longest run of gains since July. Prices are up 6 percent this week and 1.6 percent this year.

Brent for June settlement declined 43 cents to $102.98 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark grade was at a premium of $9.67 to WTI. It finished at $9.77 yesterday, the narrowest closing spread since Jan. 3, 2012. The gap reached an intraday record of more than $28 a barrel in October 2011.

(Source: Bloomberg)