Bank of England moving gold to US to avoid tariffs

Australia has not escaped the threat of increased tariffs on its exports to the U.S., but it does have one world-class industry which is reveling in commodity market confusion, gold.

Both Citi and RBC Capital Markets see the gold price continuing to rise while the Resources Department of the Australian Government is forecasting an increase in national output from 286 tons this year to 309 tons next year, cementing Australia’s position as the world’s third biggest gold producer after Russia and China.

Gold’s rise in U.S. dollars is magnified in Australia by the currency effect with an exchange current rate of US63 cents delivering an Australian gold price of A$4903/oz, a record which easily eclipses all earlier gold booms.

Source – Forbes

Gold futures fall, though they remain in a relatively tight range. Futures are down 0.4% at $3,329.10 a troy ounce, having fallen as low as $3,404.40/oz earlier in the session, though they sit up 0.6% on week.

Source – The Wall Street Journal

“With the price now reaching our long-held target of $3,000/oz, the main question is whether the rally will continue. We think so, as long as policy risks and an intensifying trade conflict continue to spur safe-haven demand,” UBS said.

Source – Seeking Alpha

UBS Group AG – formerly Union Bank of Switzerland, is a multinational investment bank and financial services company based in Switzerland.

The ultra-wealthy are increasingly moving their gold offshore as economic and geopolitical uncertainty roils markets — and Singapore is emerging as a favored destination.

Not far from the city-state’s airport sits a six-story facility covered in onyx and fortified by tight security. Tucked behind its steel doors are gold and silver bars amounting to about $1.5 billion.

“A lot of very high net worth clients are looking at tariffs, looking at the world changing, looking at the potential of geopolitical instabilities,” Gregersen told CNBC. 

“The idea of putting physical metal in a safe jurisdiction like Singapore with parties they can trust is becoming a big trend nowadays,” he said, adding that 90% of the new orders are coming from outside of Singapore.

Source – CNBC

“We have found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud so far. And we’ve just started. We’re actually going to Fort Knox to see if the gold is there, because maybe somebody stole the gold. Tons of gold,” Trump said.

“I think the gold is probably there. It’s probably almost certainly there,” David Sacks, Trump’s crypto czar, told Fox News last week, though he still agreed with the president’s calls to investigate the matter.

“Nobody thinks this is a crazy idea to go check because we don’t know,” Sacks added, arguing that “we cannot fully trust that our gold is still in Fort Knox” because of the “corruption” in Washington.

Source – ABC News

Gold prices fell on Friday and were poised for their worst weekly performance in more than a month after the Federal Reserve tempered expectations for rate cuts and on a temporary easing of concerns about an imminent U.S. attack on Iran.

Spot gold slipped 0.7% to $3,347.80 an ounce, as of 1201 GMT, and was down 2.5% for the week so far. U.S. gold futures shed 1.3% to $3,364.00.

“Gold, silver, and platinum all suffered setbacks as traders booked profits after Wednesday’s FOMC meeting,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.

“Gold is likely to extend its current consolidation phase with support around $3,320 followed by $3,245.”

Source – Reuters