Gold Rallies for Second Week as Yemen Conflict Increases Demand

PT. Equityworld Futures - Gold headed for the first back-to-back weekly climb since January after Saudi Arabia and its allies started bombing targets in Yemen, boosting demand for a haven as prices posted the longest run of gains in more than two years.
Bullion for immediate delivery traded at $1,203.41 an ounce at 8:21 a.m. in Singapore from $1,204.81 on Thursday, when it rose for a seventh straight day, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal rallied to $1,219.79 on March 26, the highest level since March 2, and is up 1.8 percent this week. Gold traded in Shanghai also headed for a weekly advance.
Investors have historically turned to precious metals during times of geopolitical tension. Gold headed for the first quarterly gain since June as the Saudis headed a coalition of 10 Sunni-ruled nations that carried out raids around Yemen’s capital.
Gold climbed every day since Federal Reserve policy makers signaled last week they’re in no hurry to raise interest rates, weakening the dollar and raising the appeal of bullion. Data on Thursday showed jobless claims dropped to the lowest level since mid-February, spurring a rebound in the U.S. currency.
Gold for June delivery was at $1,203.80 on the Comex from $1,205.70 on Thursday and is set to gain 1.6 percent this week. Bullion of 99.99 percent purity was at 240.80 yuan a gram ($1,205.92 an ounce) on the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
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Gold Trims Weekly Advance as Yemen Conflict Weighed With Dollar

PT. Equityworld Futures - Gold pared the first back-to-back weekly climb since January as investors weighed a rising dollar against demand for a haven after Saudi Arabia and its allies started bombing targets in Yemen.
Bullion for immediate delivery fell as much as 0.4 percent to $1,200.10 an ounce and was at $1,204.47 at 2:50 p.m. in Singapore, reducing this week’s gain to 1.9 percent, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal rallied to $1,219.79 on March 26, the highest level since March 2, as it capped seven days of gains, the longest run of advances since 2012. Gold in Shanghai headed for the first weekly advance in seven.
Investors have historically turned to precious metals in times of geopolitical tension. Gold was set for the first quarterly gain since June as the Saudis headed a coalition of 10 Sunni-ruled nations that carried out raids around Yemen’s capital. Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbor is near the center of world energy trade, and oil is poised to post the biggest weekly gain since 2011 amid concern supplies may be disrupted. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose the most in a week on Thursday.
Data on Thursday showed jobless claims dropped to the lowest level since mid-February. Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said the economy can handle moving to a higher-rate environment. Fed Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak on monetary policy in San Francisco on Friday.
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Gold Logs First Fall in 8 Sessions

PT. Equityworld Futures - Gold futures settled with a loss on Friday, putting an end to a seven-session stretch of gains that had lifted prices to their highest level in more than three weeks.
Prices rallied particularly strongly over the past two trading sessions as declines in global equities and turmoil in Yemen helped buoy safe-haven investment demand for the metal.
Gold for April delivery   shed $5, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,199.80 an ounce Friday on Comex. During their seven-session climb, gold futures tallied a total gain of 4.9%. For the week, prices gained 1.3%.
May silver  settled down 7.1 cents, or 0.4%, at $17.069 an ounce, leaving it with a weekly gain of 1.1%.
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Gold, Silver Head for Weekly Rallies as Dollar Drop Spurs Demand

PT. Equityworld Futures - Gold and silver were poised for the biggest weekly rallies since January as declines for the dollar increased the appeal of precious metals as alternative investments.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major currencies, headed for the steepest weekly drop since 2011.
Gold and silver prices declined last week as investors exited in anticipation of an increase for borrowing costs. Higher rates cut gold’s allure because the metal generally offers returns only through prices gains, sending investors to assets with better yield prospects such as bonds.
Gold futures for April delivery rose 1.1 percent to $1,181.30 an ounce at 10:29 a.m. on the Comex, heading for a weekly advance of 2.5 percent. That would be the biggest gain since Jan. 16.
Silver futures for May delivery jumped 3.3 percent to $16.645 an ounce on the Comex, poised for a weekly increase of 7.4 percent, also the most since Jan. 16.
The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials rose as much as 1.5 percent.
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Gold headed for First Weekly Advance This Month on Fed Rate Outlook

PT. Equityworld Futures - Gold headed for the first weekly climb since February, extending a rebound from a three-month low, after the Federal Reserve lowered projections for interest-rate increases.
Gold for immediate delivery added 0.1 percent to $1,172.31 an ounce by 10:40 a.m. in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Bullion for April delivery rose 0.2 percent to $1,171.70 on the Comex in New York. Futures trading volume on the exchange was 40 percent below the average for this time of day over the past 100 days.
Bullion was set at $1,171.75 an ounce on Friday in the first LBMA Gold Price, an electronic auction that replaced the London gold fixing.
Silver rose 0.4 percent to $16.1997 an ounce and is set to climb 3.4 percent this week. Platinum was little changed at $1,124.75 an ounce, and palladium rose 0.9 percent to $773 an ounce, still set for a second weekly drop.
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Gold Erases This Year’s Losses on Dollar Decline; Silver Jumps

PT. Equityworld Futures - Gold erased its 2015 losses and posted the biggest weekly gain since January as declines for the dollar boosted the metal’s appeal as an alternative investment. Silver climbed the most this year.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major currencies, headed for the steepest weekly drop since 2009. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen suggested this week that the U.S. central bank was in no hurry to raise interest rates, even as a statement after a policy meeting showed officials dropped a pledge to be “patient” on tightening.

Gold and silver prices declined last week as investors exited in anticipation of an increase for borrowing costs. Higher rates cut gold’s allure because the metal generally offers returns only through prices gains, sending investors to assets with better yield prospects such as bonds.

Gold futures for April delivery rose 1.3 percent to settle at $1,184.60 an ounce at 1:43 p.m. on the Comex, leaving a gain of less than 0.1 percent for the year. In 2014, the metal fell 1.5 percent. Prices advanced 2.8 percent this week, the most since Jan. 16.

Silver futures for May delivery jumped 4.8 percent to $16.883 an ounce on the Comex, the biggest rise since Dec. 9. This week, prices climbed 9 percent, this most since August 2013.
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Hong Kong Stocks Slip 0.20%, Shanghai Rallies

PT. Equityworld Futures - Hong Kong stocks eased 0.20 percent Tuesday, giving up early gains following a three-day rally, but Shanghai extended a recent rally on hopes China will unveil fresh economy-boosting measures.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index dipped 48.06 points to 23,901.49 on turnover of HK$80.09 billion ($10.33 billion).
In mainland China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.55 percent, or 53.54 points, to 3,502.85 -- its highest close since May 2008 -- on turnover of 601.5 billion yuan ($97.7 billion).
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, gained 1.23 percent, or 21.59 points, to 1,781.78 on turnover of 497.5 billion yuan.
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Gold Near Three-Month Low as Investors Await Fed Meeting

PT. Equityworld Futures - Gold futures were little changed, trading near a three-month low as investors awaited the conclusion of a Federal Reserve policy meeting.

Key to the debate for Fed officials meeting this week will be whether the U.S. economy has gained enough steam to warrant removing a pledge to be “patient” on raising borrowing costs. Money managers have cut their gold net-long wagers for six straight weeks amid mounting speculation U.S. interest rates will rise.

Gold futures for April delivery climbed 0.1 percent to settle at $1,153.20 an ounce at 1:37 p.m. on the Comex in New York. Prices touched $1,146.50 on March 11, the lowest since Dec. 1. The metal has posted two straight weekly declines.

The Fed policy statement is due at 2 p.m. on March 18 in Washington. Gains in the labor market are increasing the chances the central bank will raise rates, eroding the haven appeal of gold and sending investors to assets with better yield prospects such as bonds and equities.

Silver futures for May delivery gained 0.8 percent to $15.617 an ounce on the Comex, the second increase in three sessions.

Platinum futures for April delivery slid 0.7 percent to $1,107.90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price touched $1,105, the lowest since July 2009. Palladium futures for June delivery dropped 1.1 percent to $780.10 an ounce.
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Gold Futures Decline to 18-Week Low as Investors Sell ETP Assets

PT. Equityworld Futures - Gold futures slumped to an 18-week low as investors exited funds backed by the metal before a Federal Reserve policy meeting.
Holdings in gold exchange-traded products fell for a 14th straight day Monday, the longest run in more than a year. Almost 90 percent of economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict Fed officials will drop a pledge to be “patient” on raising interest rates from a policy statement due at the conclusion of their gathering Wednesday.
The precious metal has fallen 3 percent in 2015 on concern rates will rise, sending investors to assets with better yield prospects such as bonds and equities. Money managers have cut their gold net-long wagers for six straight weeks, and ETP assets are at the lowest since Jan. 21.
Gold futures for April delivery fell 0.4 percent to settle at $1,148.20 an ounce at 1:43 p.m. on the Comex in New York. The price touched $1,141.60, the lowest since Nov. 7, when the metal reached a four-year low of $1,130.40.
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Gold Holds Near Three-Month Low as Investors Weigh Rate Outlook

PT. Equityworld Futures - Gold held near the lowest in three months as the dollar extended gains on speculation the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year as the economy recovers.
Bullion for immediate delivery traded at $1,168.53 an ounce by 9:43 a.m. in Singapore from $1,167.21 on Monday, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Gold fell to $1,163.84 on Friday, the lowest since Dec. 1, after a report showed the U.S. jobless rate fell to the lowest in almost seven years.
Investors are weighing data for clues on when the central bank may raise rates from near zero. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is at the highest in a decade after the U.S. jobs report saw traders bolster bets on a September rate rise. Fed Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher warned that delaying higher borrowing costs risked recession. Higher rates curb gold’s appeal as it generally gives returns only through price gains.
Gold for April delivery traded at $1,167.50 an ounce on the Comex in New York from $1,166.50 on Monday.
Silver for immediate delivery rose 0.2 percent to $15.8054 an ounce, after falling to $15.7222, the lowest since Jan. 5.
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ANZ: Gold could reach $US1100 in the next three months

PT. Equityworld Futures - The plunge in the gold price following strong US jobs data could be repeated over coming months, according to commodities analysts.
Gold fell 2.6 per cent from $US1200 an ounce on Friday after the release of US non-farm payrolls data on Friday night, and was hovering around $US1170 on Monday.
The data showed the United States added 295,000 jobs in February “ 55,000 more than economists were expecting. Furthermore, US unemployment dropped 0.2 of a percentage point to 5.5 per cent “ the lowest since May 2008.
"The non-farm payroll data has been a strong driver of the gold price over the last 18 months," said UBS commodities analyst Jo Battershill.
"Something that was never a big driver of gold has now become a very big driver of gold."
In addition, gold had breached an important technical level on Friday night's plunge, which had triggered further selling, he said.
"$US1185 over the past couple of years has been seen as a major sort of support level. There was a lot of influence around that level so that in a lot of markets there would have been a lot of triggers on that value. I would imagine a significant amount of value would have gone through once it breached that level."
Mr Battershill said the end of February through to July was traditionally a soft period for gold, which could see the price fall further.
"What's holding it up at the moment is that we're still seeing very, very strong physical demand out of China. The next four months will be a battle between [US interest rate rises] in the West and physical demand in the East.
"In the short term, you'd pick the interest rates on that."
However, in the longer term Mr Battershill predicted Asian demand would put a solid floor under the gold price.
"Every time we see gold touch new lows in this cycle you see strong physical demand out of China and India. Will there be a cultural shift away from gold as a store of wealth in the East? I don't think so."
Gold is now 38 per cent off its September 2011 high of $US1900, although higher than its November 2014 low of $US1144.
ANZ commodities analyst Daniel Hynes said gold could reach $US1100 in the next three months.
"It's come at a time when physical demand has been weak as well," he said. "The headwinds for gold have been quite strong over the past few weeks and that payrolls number was the straw that broke the camel's back.
"Our outlook for gold is fairly bearish at the moment . We'd be looking for prices to pressure the $US1100 level.
"Certainly in the very short term everything's going against it ... In the next few weeks or so there's going to be some serious headwinds which will put downward pressure on gold prices."
US interest rates and the US dollar were both rising, as were equity markets, he said.
"All that safe-haven buying support we saw at the start of the year has completely evaporated and is unlikely to return in the short term."
But Mr Hynes said the long-term view for gold was better, with ANZ forecasting $US1280 an ounce for the end of 2015.
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U.S. Stocks Drop as Feb Payrolls Report Fuels Rate Speculation

PT. Equityworld Futures - U.S. stocks fell, with benchmark indexes tumbling the most in two months, as better-than-forecast jobs data fueled speculation the Federal Reserve is moving closer to raising interest rates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 1.4 percent, the most since Jan. 5, to 2,071.26 at 4 p.m. in New York. The equity gauge lost 1.8 percent for the week.

Employers added more jobs than forecast in February and the unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 percent, the lowest in almost seven years, showing the labor market is sustaining progress after the best annual performance in 15 years.

The 295,000 advance in payrolls last month followed a 239,000 January increase that was smaller than previously reported, figures from the Labor Department showed Friday in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 235,000 increase. The unemployment rate fell from 5.7 percent while hourly earnings rose less than forecast.

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Gold Erases 2015’s Advance on Concern U.S. Rates Will Rise Soon

PT. Equityworld Futures - The more the U.S. economy improves, the worse things get for gold bulls.

Bullion erased its 2015 gains and slumped the most in more than a year Friday after a government report showed American employers added more jobs than forecast in February. The unemployment rate dropped to the lowest in almost seven years. Holdings in exchange-traded funds backed by gold headed for the biggest weekly decline since November.

A stronger economy is fueling speculation that the Federal Reserve is getting closer to raising interest rates for the first time since 2006, damping the appeal of the metal, which generally offer returns through price gains. Futures fell 5.2 percent last month amid gains in U.S. equities and easing concern over Greece’s debt.

On the Comex, gold futures for April delivery fell 2.7 percent to settle at $1,164.30 an ounce at 1:41 p.m. in New York, the biggest drop since Dec. 19, 2013. Earlier, the metal slumped to $1,162.90, the lowest since Dec. 1.

Gold dropped 29 percent in the previous two years as the dollar surged and inflation remained low. Prices climbed 70 percent from December 2008 to June 2011 partly as the Fed held interest rates near a record low.

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Gold Falls to End Longest Rally in Five Weeks as Equities Climb

PT. Equityworld Futures - Gold futures fell to end the longest rally in five weeks as a 15-year high in U.S. technology stocks cut demand for the precious metal as a haven.
The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed above 5,000 for the first time since 2000 on optimism that consumer spending will advance. Gold dropped 29 percent in the previous two years as the economy gained traction and global equities surged.
On the Comex in New York, gold futures for April delivery dropped 0.4 percent to settle at $1,208.20 an ounce at 1:46 p.m. The price climbed in the previous three sessions, the longest rally since Jan. 20.
Earlier, the metal reached $1,223, the highest for a most-active contract since Feb. 17, after a cut in borrowing costs in China, the world’s second-largest consumer.
The People’s Bank of China lowered the benchmark lending and deposit rates by a quarter percentage point on Saturday. Gold imports by India, the top consumer, may jump to 100 metric tons in March from about 25 tons in February, according to Rajesh Mehta, chairman of Rajesh Exports Ltd.
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Chinese Stocks Cap Monthly Gain Before Annual Congress Meeting

PT. Equityworld Futures - Chinese stocks rose, with the benchmark index capping a monthly gain, before the start of the annual National People’s Congress meeting next week. The yuan weakened.
The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4 percent to 3,310.30 at the close. The gauge rose 3.3 percent during the holiday-shortened month. The measure jumped 2.2 percent yesterday after Premier Li Keqiang called for more active fiscal policy and a central bank publication said extra monetary easing is needed.
China should loosen monetary policy to reduce the impact of the economic slowdown on jobs, according to a commentary in China Securities Journal, while an article in the People’s Bank of China’s newspaper published yesterday said the central bank should cut required reserve ratios for lenders. The country’s export outlook in 2015 is still “grim,” Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said Thursday.
The CSI 300 Index gained 0.2 percent, while the Hang Seng Index was little changed at 3:13 p.m. local time and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 0.2 percent.
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Hong Kong Stock Close Down 0.32 %

PT. Equityworld Futures - Hong Kong stocks ended down 0.32 percent on Friday, reversing the previous day's gains, as Shanghai ended higher ahead of a key meeting next week.
The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 78.77 points to 24,823.29 on turnover of HK$76,55 billion ($9,87 billion).
Chinese shares ended higher as investors awaited the start of the annual meeting of the National People's Congress, the country's legislature, next week, dealers said.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 0.36 percent, or 11.94 points, to 3,310.30 on turnover of 335.0 billion yuan ($54.5 billion).
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, gained 0.95 percent, or 15.34 points, to 1,630.05 on turnover of 277.3 billion yuan.
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Gold Futures Rebound as U.S. Economy Grows Less Than Estimated

PT. Equityworld Futures - Gold futures rebounded after a government report showed that the U.S. economy expanded at a slower pace than previously estimated in the fourth quarter.
The U.S. grew at a 2.2 percent annualized rate, down from an initial estimate of 2.6 percent, the Commerce Department said Friday. The figure for household consumption was also revised lower.
Slowing American expansion gives the Federal Reserve more room to keep interest rates low, reviving the appeal of precious metals as a store of value. Gold dropped 29 percent in the previous two years as the U.S. economy gained traction, increasing concern that the central bank would raise borrowing costs.
Gold futures for April delivery rose 0.2 percent to settle at $1,213.10 an ounce at 1:37 p.m. on the Comex in New York, after falling as much as 0.5 percent.
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