“Today’s AM fix was USD 1,710.00, EUR 1,342.76, and GBP 1,077.91 per ounce.
Yesterday’s AM fix was USD 1,723.50, EUR 1,351.45, and GBP 1,087.66 per ounce.
Silver is trading at $32.32/oz, €25.48/oz and £20.46/oz. Platinum is trading at $1,554.50/oz, palladium at $624.80/oz and rhodium at $1,095/oz.
Gold fell $11.00 or 0.64% in New York yesterday and closed at $1,714.00. Silver slipped to a low of $32.166 and finished with a loss of 0.15%.
Gold and silver have traded a bit lower on Friday and are both heading for a loss of 1% on the week in dollar terms. This is to be expected after the 3% and 5% returns of last week and the trading action this week has all the hallmarks of consolidation.
Interestingly, the sharp falls seen in the Japanese yen this week have created the unusual situation of gold and silver prices being nearly 1% higher in yen terms while lower in most fiat currencies.
The jobless claims numbers were higher than expected (439K vs 338K) yesterday and Superstorm Sandy’s wrath may have worsened an already weakening US economy. Unemployment benefits grew by 78K for the week ending November 10th.
Many of those who lost their jobs were unable to immediately file claims due to the dislocation caused by the storm. Sandy led to over 100 deaths, left no power in many homes, curtailed rail or subway services and insurance losses estimated are between $20 billion and $50 billion.
US industrial output figures for October are published at 1415 GMT.
If the US fiscal cliff isn’t sorted out it will weigh on the dollar and benefit gold however the fiscal cliff is just the preliminary bout in many challenges facing the $16.15 trillion indebted US economy.
The CME Group cut margins on gold and silver futures contracts in a bid to ignite trading interest which is bullish from a contrarian perspective.
Gold demand is still strong. The SPDR Gold Trust holdings grew to 1,339.616 tonnes by Nov. 15, just a tad off the record high of $1,340.521 tonnes hit in October.
John Paulson kept a major stake in gold in Q3 2012, a confidence boost to bullion’s appeal as a hedge against economic uncertainty, a US regulatory filing showed on Thursday.
While John Paulson kept his current stake in the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD), Soros increased his holding in the gold trust by 49% to 1.32 million shares.
Soros and his team, unlike many “experts”, clearly believe gold is not a bubble and will protect and grow his wealth in the coming years.” ”
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