August Gold News 2014

The gold price rose yesterday as tension builds between Russia and the Ukraine over the apparent deployment of Russian troops in the east of the Ukraine.

The gold price rose over 1% at one point after Ukrainian President said Russian soldiers has entered the East of his country. NATO also announced they had evidence that over 1,000 Russian soldiers had illegally entered Ukrainian territory. The U.S. government also accused Russia of supplying military hardware to the rebels. Russia strongly denies all the claims.

Gold responded positively to the news as equity markets in Europe fell and dollar softened against a basket of ...

ETF Securities the Jersey based derivative specialist have reported that investors have been adding exposure to both gold and oil as a direct response to geopolitical events. In their latest report ETF securities confirmed they have experienced positive inflows into both their gold and oil exchange traded funds for six consecutive weeks.

With ISIS expanding their operations across Iraq and Syria and Russian oil and gas exports threatened by sanctions it is unsurprising investors have increased their exposure.

The gold price has risen for the third consecutive day as tensions increased in the Ukraine and U.S. dollar softened. Gold bullion increased 0.5% during Asian trading to reach $1,289.05 per ounce.

Jen Psaki, U.S. State Department spokeswomen, said Russia may be supporting Ukrainian rebels in the east of the country. The U.S. believes this support may have enabled the rebels to open a new front in previously peaceful areas in the south east of the country.

The U.S. dollar fell 0.1% against a basket of major currencies which in turn boosted gold’s appeal. Historically gold outperforms traditional assets in times of ...

Gold rose for the second consecutive day as geopolitical tension between Ukraine and Russia boosted demand, offsetting an improving U.S. economy and strengthening U.S dollar. The gold price rose by 0.3% to $1,284.83 per ounce during Asian trading.

Fighting in the east of Ukraine continued despite Vladimir Putin describing his recent talks with Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko as “positive”.

The U.S. dollar climbed to a 12 month high against the Euro on speculation the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates next year, while the European Central Bank hinted they are likely to commence a new stimulus package.

Gold is currently trading at £775.47 ...

Gold futures have risen 1% this morning as investors wait for news from the meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders. Gold for immediate delivery increased $12.60 per ounce to £1,291.50 per ounce in early European trading.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko will meet later today in the Belarussian capital Minsk in the hope of ending the four month conflict in the east of the Ukraine.

Traders will also be looking ahead to the release of key economic data from the U.S. for indication on the health of the world’s largest economy.

Gold is currently trading at £776.67 per ...

The Central Banks of Russia and Kazakhstan both increased their gold bullion reserves in July according to data released by the International Monetary Fund.

Russia increased their reserves by 6.3 tons to 1,002.8 tons. Russia’s Central Bank holdings are now the seventh largest in the world. Kazakhstan increased their holdings by 1.1 tons to 132 tonnes. Both Central Banks have now increased their holding for ten consecutive months.

Many Central Banks in developing countries have increased their gold bullion holdings over the last few years as a response to expanding sovereign debt and the debasement of major reserve currencies such as ...

Gold drifted down as low as £771.04 t/oz this morning as speculation waxed on the US Fed raising interest rates earlier than expected. The minutes from the latest fed policy meeting showed a drop in unemployment figures to 6.2% from 7.3% earlier in the year.

Despite positive employment data, Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen still believes there is a certain amount of economy labour slack meaning there are “significantly more people willing and capable of filling a job than there are jobs for them to fill”. That said, it seems that the Fed are currently divided on when to start increasing interest ...

Despite gold trading in a tight price band near the psychologically important $1,300 t/oz level and silver falling below $20 t/oz, precious metals investors have continued to add to holdings. The total holdings in exchange traded products (ETFs) saw a modest rise last week with 2 tonnes of gold and 19 tonnes of silver flowing back into ETFs, bringing the total ETF gold and silver holdings to 1,728.1 tonnes and 19,616 tonnes respectively.

Retailer investor sentiment was lifted on Friday when Q2 results from hedge fund managers John Paulson and George Soros pointed towards positive prospects for the sector. July recorded ...

Palladium briefly climbed over $900 t/oz yesterday, the highest price since February 2001. Despite retracting back to $898 t/oz today the price of palladium has strengthened as investors rushed to hold positions in the metal.

Investors seem fairly convinced that the long term supply may be suppressed due to recent sanctions imposed on Russia and an increase in demand to hold the metal. Palladium, now up 24% since January, gained momentum earlier in the year as South African miners held strikes and global car sales recovered (palladium is used in car exhaust systems). It is estimated that 80% of the world’s ...

Gold has traded comfortably above its psychological barrier of $1,300 an ounce this week and is poised to make its second straight weekly gain. Boosted by sluggish global economic data and continued geopolitical tensions, the metals appeal as a safe-haven asset has been bolstered.

On Thursday the price was assisted by data showing that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits had risen more than expected. Furthermore, Eurozone economic recovery ground to a halt just as French Minister, Michel Sapin, admitted that the government’s forecasted 2014 growth of 1% would be impossible to reach. It is not only ...

The final conference call between banker-dealers in the London silver market took place yesterday as the silver price enters a new era of electronic benchmarking. The silver fix, which has benchmarked the precious metal for the past 117 years, will be replaced by a new price mechanism where orders are entered electronically and prices are correctly balanced between buy and sell orders through an algorithm.

At Midday an electronic auction will start on a trading platform provided by CME Group Inc. All members will begin bidding at a price based off quoted rates for silver across the market. Members will trade ...

Gold held onto small gains overnight as U.S. retail data announced on Wednesday an unexpected sales stall in July, perhaps pointing to a loss of economic momentum early in Q3. Gold’s positive movement yesterday and this morning has further confirmed investor sentiment towards the news, as gold becomes a more appealing safe-haven asset. In turn, July’s sluggish retail sales results have lessened some investor fears that the Fed may raise interest rates sooner than initially expected.

Global geopolitical tensions have continued to support the gold price. Despite Israeli and Palestinian factions in Cairo agreeing to extend a ceasefire for another five ...

Gold is poised to post its strongest week in just under two months as the yellow metal climbed to a three week high. U.S. President Barack Obama has today approved airstrikes in Iraq in a bid to halt the advance on Irbil by the Islamic State (IS). Despite stressing that there was no intention of sending in ground troops, the President stated the action is intended to defend Americans and protect the Iraqi civilians under siege.

The decision comes after the IS group yesterday captured Qaraqosh, Iraq’s largest Christian town, after pushing back Kurdish troops. Qaraqosh is located approximately 19 miles ...

Gold held on to its gains made yesterday, trading close to its highest in over three weeks, as fears of Russian military action heightened as reports from NATO claimed that Russia had amassed large numbers of combat ready troops on Ukraine’s border. Moscow has also banned the import of agricultural goods from countries that imposed earlier sanctions against them, impacting all EU countries and the United States.

Gold rose yesterday despite the dollar hitting a nine-month high against the euro on indicators that the U.S. is recovering and the EU stumbles.

Gold is currently trading at £774.29 per ounce, silver at £11.889 ...

NATO has stated that Russia has amassed 20,000 combat-ready troops on the eastern border of Ukraine. Officials are concerned that Russia may use the excuse of a peace-keeping mission as pretext to an invasion. NATO went on further to say that the troop build-up has further escalated "a dangerous situation".

In response to the situation the gold price jumped 1.5% to £777/oz as global stocks markets fell.

Given the war in Ukraine and deteriorating relationships with the U.S and Europe, Russia has been adding aggressively to their central bank gold reserves.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed the Russian Central Bank added 16.8 tonnes of gold in June taking their overall holdings to 1,094.8 tonnes. The Central Banks off Ecuador, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Serbia and Greece all added to their gold reserves in June.

Russia has almost doubled its gold reserves in the last five years, whilst the Central Bank of India has increased their reserves by 55% to 557 tonnes over same time period.

By the close of 2013, ...

HSBC bank confirmed they are facing a raft of lawsuits from U.S. investors, accusing them of manipulating the gold and silver price. One lawsuit accuses HSBC of conspiring to manipulate gold derivatives since January 2007.

The five banks which administrate the London Gold Fix have come under increasing scrutiny following the FCA’s decision to fine Barclays bank £26 million, after one of their gold traders was found guilty of manipulating the gold price.

HSBC Chief Executive, Stuart Gulliver, also faces a legal battle with shareholders after the bank was found guilty of breaching money laundering rules. Regulators concluded that the banks internal ...

Gold exchange traded funds (ETF’s) experienced significant inflows in July despite the price dropping below the psychological $1,300 barrier. In July assets under management in July expanded at their fastest rate since November 2012, however, year to date holdings are down 29 tonnes.

Gold’s appeal as the ultimate safe haven asset has been boosted following the continuing violence in Palestine and the Ukraine.

Silver backed ETF’s added 4.8 tonnes last week to record their best weekly inflow since August 2013.

According to Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, geologists have found a significant gold deposit in the Eastern province of Xinjiang.

Chinese geologists believe the site near the Kyrgyzstan border will yield 127 tonnes gold, if correct the site would be worth £3.8bn. Miners have been exploring the Xinjiang district for the last 20 years have discovered over 21 gold belts.

The gold mining industry has slashed exploration costs by 29% since the start of the economic crisis so this latest find is a rare success.

China has been the world’s largest gold miner since 2007 and is expected to mine a total ...

The gold price fell 1% yesterday following a week of positive economic data out of the U.S. indicating the worlds largest economy has strengthen following a 2.9% contraction in GDP in Q1 of 2014.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also suffered heavy losses yesterday dropping by 1.9% to 16,563.30. Stock markets across Europe also experienced heavy losses yesterday with the majority of indexes down over 1%. Investors are becoming concerned stock markets are overvalued following a five year bull market which has pushed many stock markets to near all-time highs

After a period of relative calm stock market volatility appears to be ...