Precious Metals

Gold imports to Switzerland from the United States jumped to the highest monthly level since at least 2012 in April after the exclusion of precious metals from U.S. import tariffs, Swiss customs data showed on Tuesday.

The Swiss data showed that gold imports from the U.S. rose to 63.0 metric tons in April from 25.5 tons in March. It was the highest in monthly data going back to early 2012.

Switzerland’s total gold exports fell by 31% month on month in April with gold deliveries to the U.S. dropping to 12.7 tons from 103.3 tons in March.

Source – Reuters

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

Futures are up 1.7% at $3,350.60 a troy ounce and on track for weekly gains of nearly 4%.

“Without a fundamental shift in U.S. fiscal policy, the implications of rising borrowing costs and widening fiscal deficits means the U.S. is on an unstable fiscal policy path, which could lead to heightened market volatility,” says Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at Forex.com.

Source – The Washington Street Journal

South Africa’s rand, stocks and government bonds strengthened on Friday, boosted by higher gold prices as worries over the United States’ worsening fiscal health sent investors into the safe-haven asset.

At 0929 GMT, the rand traded at 17.9150 against the dollar, 0.5% stronger than Thursday’s closing level.

Gold prices rose on Friday and were poised for their biggest weekly gain in more than a month, as a softer U.S. dollar and concerns over the country’s fiscal outlook boosted bullion’s safe-haven appeal.

Source – Reuters

Gold futures posted their second consecutive strong gain on Tuesday, rising 3% in the two days since Moody’s downgraded its U.S. credit rating and amplified concerns over the debt and deficit spending.

The dollar slipped again, weighed down in part by cautious remarks about the economy by Federal Reserve officials and by President Trump’s failure so far to convince Republican holdouts in the U.S. House to support his sweeping tax and spending bill.

“Investors are reassessing the long-term outlook for U.S. sovereign risk. As such, safe-haven assets like gold could experience heightened demand,” Quasar Elizunda of Pepperstone said in a note.

Source – Seeking Alpha

Moody’s Corporation – (MCO) a New York-based company that owns Moody’s Investors Service that rates creditworthiness of companies, governments, and fixed income debt securities, and Moody’s Analytics.

Gold prices have fallen almost 10% from a record high just above $3,500 per ounce in April as a de-escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions punctured momentum, but analysts are sticking with a bullish outlook due to strong underlying support for the metal.

Spot gold was trading around $3,180 an ounce on Friday, leaving prices on track for their worst week in six months.

“Gold prices are more likely to rise than to fall from this stage onwards as other factors like central bank demand and very strong investor demand from China are not going away anytime soon,” said Nitesh Shah, commodities strategist at WisdomTree.

Source – Reuters