Gold posts biggest weekly gain in nearly two years
Monday, 15 July 2013 01:09
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Reuters: Gold eased on Friday but notched its biggest weekly advance in nearly two years as fears of an imminent winding down of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus eased for now.
Spot bullion rose 4.8% for the week, the biggest weekly gain since October 2011. The metal rallied after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday said the US central bank needed to keep a stimulative monetary policy in place given low inflation and an uncertain job market.
Signs of some physical supply tightness in gold, as reflected by high premiums and record volume in the Shanghai Futures Exchange and a surge in gold lease rates, helped to limit bullion’s losses on Friday. Analysts said, however, recent gains in US equities amid some positives signs for the economy and no indications of abatement in outflows from gold-backed exchange-traded funds could pressure the metal.
Spot gold was down 0.2% at $ 1,282.06 an ounce, snapping a four-day winning streak. US Comex gold futures for August delivery settled down $ 2.30 to $ 1,277.60 an ounce, with trading volume about 20% below its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Gold pared losses after government data showed that US producer prices rose more than expected in June, increasing gold’s inflation-hedge appeal.
Meanwhile, total US COMEX registered gold stocks fell to a 12-year low of less than one million ounces, underlying the tightness of the physical bullion market, said James Steel, HSBC’s chief metals analyst. Registered gold refers to the 100-ounce COMEX gold bullion bars that meet the standard of and are used to back requests for US gold futures delivery.
Among other precious metals, silver fell 1.1% to $ 19.87 an ounce. Platinum inched down 0.1% to $ 1,402.99 an ounce, while palladium gained 0.1% to $ 716.97 an ounce.
