“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.
A flurry of legislative activity in both chambers of Congress in February includes more than a half dozen bills, one of which seeks an extension of production of Presidential dollars and First Spouse gold coins.
S. 633, introduced Feb. 19 by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, seeks to extend the Presidential dollar and First Spouse gold coin series to include deceased presidents and their spouses not yet honored.
Jimmy Carter Presidential dollars would be authorized to be struck with a circulation finish in bags and rolls offered for sale from the Denver and Philadelphia Mints, and Uncirculated finish versions from both production facilities and Proof coins from the San Francisco Mint.
For the First Spouse gold coins, Proof and Uncirculated versions would be produced as numismatic products at the West Point Mint bearing the facility’s W Mint mark.
Source – Coin World
A bevy of tariff headlines this week along with geopolitical worries has left investors wary and weary, taking stocks lower in Asian hours, gold to a record peak and the yen to its highest in over two months as sentiment remains fragile.
The risk-off mood meant the yen – already underpinned by rising odds of the Bank of Japan hiking rates again – was the main mover among currencies, hitting its highest level since early December and was last at 150.48 per dollar.
Both Citi and Goldman raised their target price on gold this month, predicting it to breach the $3,000 mark. A large part of the reason behind the bullishness is sustained demand from central banks. Perhaps in these uncertain times, gold is all that shines.
Source – Reuters
Gold prices rebounded on Thursday as investors bought bullion following a sharp decline in the previous session, while the focus remains on U.S.-China trade tensions.
Spot gold was up 1.6% at $3,338.79 an ounce, as of 1140 GMT. Bullion fell as much as 3% on Wednesday in its worst daily performance since late November.
“Gold’s pullback earlier has cleared some of the froth from its latest surge. That, in turn, attracted some buy-the-dip action amid still-persistent global trade war fears,” said Han Tan, chief market analyst at Exinity Group.
“Given the still-evident tailwinds for this precious metal, gold bugs could ultimately conquer the $3,500 level with conviction.”
Spot silver fell 0.3% to $33.44 an ounce, platinum was steady at $972.15 and palladium was down 0.2% at $942.28.
Source – Reuters
Silver is more volatile than gold. Monthly historical volatility in the COMEX silver futures market is at 19.88%, while gold’s monthly price variance metric is 10.45%. Silver’s penchant for high price volatility attracts more speculative market participants than gold. While gold is an investment asset, silver tends to be a trading vehicle.
Source – Seeking Alpha / Analysis
SILJ – is Amplify Junior Silver Miners
U.S. President Donald Trump hasn’t yet imposed import tariffs on copper but the market is already pricing in the likelihood that the red metal will be next on the list after aluminium and steel.
The arbitrage between the CME and the London Metal Exchange (LME) contracts has blown wider in recent days, with the CME premium exceeding $1,000 per metric ton earlier this week.
Source – Reuters / Written by Andy Home / Opinion
Spot gold rose 0.5% to $2,663.79 per ounce, as of 9:55 a.m. ET (1455 GMT) and hit its highest since Dec. 13. U.S. gold futures gained 0.5% to $2,679.70.
Weaker private payrolls “is contributing to gold’s move, because ultimately, weaker employment numbers imply that the economy has been weaker than many had expected,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.
“The bigger factor will be U.S. nonfarm payrolls on Friday, the market is expecting a change of 163 (thousand); anything significantly above that will be negative for gold,” Melek said.
Source – Reuters
