Gold & Precious Metals

Gold price falls to new daily lows as key inflation indicator misses expectations

Posted by Anna Golubova, kitco.com

on Friday, 30 July 2021 7:50

Gold fell to new daily lows after the U.S. annual core PCE price index came in at 3.5% in June versus the consensus forecast of 3.7%.

On a monthly basis, the core PCE price index was up 0.4% in June versus the expected 0.6%, according to the data published by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Friday.

The core inflation strips out volatile food and energy prices and is the U.S. central bank’s preferred inflation measure.

Gold dropped following the data release, hitting new daily lows. December Comex gold futures were last trading at $1,826.10 an ounce, down 0.53% on the day.

The report also showed that real personal consumption was up at 0.5% in June after falling 0.6% in May. Personal income was up 0.1% last month, beating the consensus call for a drop of 0.3%.

“The increase in personal income in June primarily reflected an increase in compensation of employees. Government social benefits decreased in June. Within compensation, the increase was primarily in private wages and salaries, reflecting Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics,” the report said…read more.

Gold ticks up as U.S. pending home sales surge in May

Posted by Anna Golubova, kitco.com

on Wednesday, 30 June 2021 7:05

Gold attempted to recover some of its early-morning losses as the U.S. pending home sales surprised on the upside in May.

The U.S. pending home sales were up 8% in May, rebounding after April’s 4.4% drop, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday. Consensus forecasts were calling for a decrease of 0.8%.

The pending home sales index came in at 114.7 in May, marking the highest May reading since 2005.

Also, pending home sales were up 13.1% from a year ago as low mortgage rates drove demand.

“May’s strong increase in transactions – following April’s decline, as well as a sudden erosion in home affordability – was indeed a surprise,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “The housing market is attracting buyers due to the decline in mortgage rates, which fell below 3%, and from an uptick in listings.”

Even all-time high housing prices and record-low inventories are not stopping the buyers from lining up, added Yun.

“While these hurdles have contributed to pricing out some would-be buyers, the record-high aggregate wealth in the country from the elevated stock market and rising home prices are evidently providing funds for home purchases,” Yun said. “More market listings will appear in the second half of 2021, in part from the winding down of the federal mortgage forbearance program and from more home building…read more.

Gold summer doldrums return after two-year hiatus

Posted by Davis Erfle, kitco.com

on Friday, 25 June 2021 7:51

Two weeks ago in this space, I mentioned the $1850 level in gold had cleared the upside on a monthly closing basis and successfully back tested its breakout. The $1850 level at that time coincided with the upper boundary of the downtrend channel from its all-time high at $2089. Once the downtrend line at $1850 was cleared last month, the gold price appeared to break out of a symmetrical triangle to the upside.

At the time, this signified the likelihood that the rally from a daily double bottom in late March had moved into a higher gear. Bullion had also broken through $1900 on a monthly closing basis and the next level in its crosshairs was the January 2021 high at $1960. But the gold price quickly fell back into the triangle during a sharp decline last week, and now appears to be headed towards its uptrend line near $1700 that has been in force since late 2018.Last Wednesday provided the catalyst for an over 6% reversal, when the Federal Reserve jawboned a stop-loss run of a $150 waterfall decline to strong support at $1760 in Gold Futures. A subsequent oversold bounce on Monday was quickly reversed before reaching the all-important $1800 level, which has become strong resistance once again.

All it took to run the stops below $1800 in gold was for the world’s largest central bank to go from “not even thinking about thinking about raising rates” to “thinking about thinking about raising rates” at the June FOMC meeting. Click here for full article.

Congratulations to our Father’s Day Draw Winner

on Sunday, 20 June 2021 15:30

Trevor C. from Calgary won a 10oz silver coin courtesy of our friends at Border Gold. Thanks to all our Inside Edge subscribers, and a special welcome to all the new registrants.

Secretive World of Diamonds Is in the Grips of a Buying Frenzy

Posted by Thomas Biesheuvel

on Wednesday, 9 June 2021 6:58

 

(Bloomberg) — At the latest De Beers diamond auction this week, buyers shopping for the kind of stones used to make an average engagement ring were in for a sticker shock: some prices had ballooned by 10% since the last sale. News of the unusually sharp increases spread swiftly through the community of 80-odd handpicked De Beers customers, according to people familiar with the discussions. But what followed was even more remarkable: within hours, some of those same stones were trading hands at a further 10% markup, as buyers who have access to De Beers flipped them to traders and manufacturers that don’t.

The spiking prices — and buyers’ willingness to pay them — are the latest sign of roaring demand in the secretive rough-diamond trade. Just nine months ago, the industry had been brought to a standstill by the pandemic. Now, the cutters and polishers who form the backbone of the global diamond market are competing fiercely for stones.

There’s several reasons behind the surge: major retailers in the U.S. and China are buying aggressively to keep up with strong sales, while rough diamond supply is tight because De Beers and rival Alrosa PJSC have limited supply to put onto the market. Perhaps most importantly, polished diamond prices — which have long weighed on the industry — are finally rising.

Read more at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/buying-frenzy-drives-price-surge-in-the-hidden-world-of-diamonds
Copyright © BloombergQuint