Gold Extends Drop From Three-Month High as Silver Snaps Rally

Gold extended a decline from the highest level in more than three months amid expectations that Federal Reserve minutes will show policy makers backing further stimulus cuts. Silver snapped the longest rally in four decades.

Bullion for immediate delivery lost as much as 0.4 percent to $1,316.91 an ounce and was at $1,318 at 10:10 a.m. in Singapore. The metal touched $1,332.45 yesterday, the highest price since Oct. 31, before dropping 0.5 percent. Gold for April delivery fell 0.5 percent to $1,317.70 an ounce on the Comex.

Gold climbed 9.3 percent this year as signs that the U.S. economy wasn’t recovering in line with expectations boosted haven demand. The Federal Reserve will release minutes of its January meeting today as investors look for the stance of policy makers after New York manufacturing data trailed estimates and U.S. factory output fell. Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Feb. 11 that while the labor-market recovery is far from complete, stimulus would be cut in “measured steps.”

Gold fell 28 percent last year, the most since 1981, as U.S. equities advanced and investment holdings fell. The central bank said in December that it would start paring stimulus by cutting monthly bond purchases by $10 billion. It decided on another reduction of the same size last month, to $65 billion.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Gold Climbs to Three-Month High as U.S. Concerns Spur Demand

Gold advanced to the highest level in more than three months as speculation that a U.S. economic recovery will stall boosted demand for haven assets. Silver headed for a 12th day of gains.

Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.9 percent to $1,330.03 an ounce, the highest since Oct. 31, and was at $1,326.78 by 9:41 a.m. in Singapore. Prices climbed 4.1 percent last week, the biggest gain since the period ended Aug. 16.

U.S. factory production unexpectedly declined in January by the most since May 2009, figures from the Federal Reserve showed on Feb. 14. Gold tumbled the most since 1981 last year after some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value. Bullion has rebounded 10 percent in 2014 amid rising demand for coins and bars and as signs of faltering U.S. economic growth added to the increasing investor appetite for a haven.

Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, who backed away from his bullish bet on gold last year, kept his holdings of the metal unchanged in the fourth quarter, a government filing showed Feb. 14. Assets in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded product backed by the metal, increased for a third week in the period ended Feb. 14, the longest such rally since August, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Gold for April delivery rose as much as 0.9 percent to $1,329.90 an ounce on the Comex, the highest for a most-active contract since Oct. 31, and traded at $1,326.50. Futures jumped 4.4 percent last week, the most since the period ended Aug. 16.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Gold Holds Advance on U.S. Payrolls as Chinese Resume Purchases

Gold held gains after posting the biggest weekly advance in more than a month as U.S. jobs data missed estimates and Chinese buyers returned after the Lunar New Year break. Silver headed for its longest rally since August.

Bullion for immediate delivery traded at $1,266.60 an ounce at 9:25 a.m. in Singapore from $1,267.27 on Feb. 7, when prices capped a 1.8 percent increase in the best showing since the period to Jan. 3, as a rout in emerging markets spurred haven demand. Silver added 0.1 percent to $20.049 an ounce, set for a seventh day of gains.

Private and government data last week on U.S. employment growth trailed forecasts, sending the Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index lower for a fifth day, as investors assessed the Federal Reserve’s plan to reduce stimulus. The dollar strengthened against 10 major peers today. Volumes for the benchmark contract on the Shanghai Gold Exchange climbed to a one-month high on Feb. 7, when the market reopened after a weeklong break.

Janet Yellen will speak before Congress tomorrow for the first time since being sworn in as Fed chairman last week, after the central bank said Jan. 29 it will trim monthly bond buying by $10 billion. Policy makers decided in December to cut purchases by the same amount as the economy improved, helping to end gold’s 12-year bull run.

Bullion for April delivery rose 0.3 percent to $1,266.10 an ounce on the Comex in New York, extending its biggest weekly advance in a month. A fourth day of gains would be the longest rally since August.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Gold Heads for Weekly Drop as Jobs Data May Boost Tapering Case

Jalatama news, Gold headed for the first weekly drop in three as investors await U.S. payrolls data amid speculation the Federal Reserve will make further cuts to stimulus. Silver is set for its worst week since November.

Bullion for immediate delivery was at $1,227.92 an ounce at 8:01 a.m. in Singapore from $1,227.95 yesterday. Prices are set to drop 0.7 percent this week, snapping a two-week advance. Gold for February delivery fell 0.2 percent to $1,227 on the Comex.

Minutes of the Fed’s December meeting released this week showed that some officials saw diminishing economic benefits from purchasing debt. The Fed said Dec. 18 that it will reduce its monthly bond purchases to $75 billion from $85 billion, citing improvements in the labor market. The employment report today is projected to show that employers added more jobs in 2013 than at any point in the past eight years.

The Labor Department report may show nonfarm payrolls rose 197,000 last month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. That would bring the total for the year to 2.27 million, the most since 2005. A report from the ADP Research Institute on Jan. 8 showed companies added 238,000 workers in December, the biggest increase since November 2012.

The Fed minutes didn’t describe a detailed schedule for asset-purchase reductions. The central bank will “continue to do, probably at each meeting, a measured reduction” in the pace of purchases, Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said last month.

Silver for immediate delivery was little changed at $19.5743 an ounce. Prices are 2.9 percent lower this week, heading for the biggest drop since the period to Nov. 22.

Platinum declined 0.1 percent to $1,417.50 an ounce, heading for a third weekly advance. Palladium was little changed at $736.08 an ounce, also set for a third weekly gain.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Gold Drops as Dollar Strengthens Before Fed Minutes, Jobs Data

Berita Jalatama, Gold fell as the dollar held gains before the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting amid expectations that the central bank will continue to wind back stimulus as the U.S. economy improves.

Bullion for immediate delivery lost as much as 0.3 percent to $1,228.25 an ounce and was at $1,230.90 at 9 a.m. in Singapore. Prices dropped 0.5 percent yesterday, the most since Dec. 30, as the dollar strengthened. Gold for February delivery was little changed at $1,230.59 on the Comex in New York.

The Federal Open Market Committee decided at the Dec. 17-18 meeting to cut monthly bond purchases to $75 billion from $85 billion from this month, and San Francisco Fed President John Williams said yesterday that the program may end this year. The Bloomberg Dollar Index advanced for the sixth time in seven days before the release today of private U.S. employment data. Bullion typically trades counter to the dollar.

The ADP Research Institute may say that private payrolls in the U.S. rose by 200,000 workers last month, after gaining 215,000 in November, according to the median estimate of economists compiled by Bloomberg. The Labor Department’s nonfarm payrolls data is scheduled for Jan. 10.

Silver for immediate delivery lost 0.3 percent to $19.8275 an ounce. Prices slumped 1.5 percent yesterday, the most since Dec. 30. Platinum and palladium were little changed at $1,414.66 an ounce and $741.20 an ounce respectively.

(Source: bloomberg)