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Randgold CEO Says Mining Companies Should Treat All Stakeholders Fairly
Randgold Resources Ltd.’s (LSE:RRS)(NASDAQ:GOLD) Mark Bristow, chief executive officer of the company, told attendees at the Mines and Money conference in London that stakeholders in gold mines located in emerging countries should be treated as partners.
ISM Non-Manufacturing Index Rises To 59.3 In November
(Kitco News) – The U.S. service sector found some strong momentum in November just ahead of the busy holiday shopping season, the Institute for Supply Management said Wednesday
Read moreLow Prices To Eventually Curtail Copper Supply Expansion And Support Prices – optionsXpress
Copper may not have put in its low yet, but eventually weaker prices should start to curtail expansion of mine supply and help establish a price floor, says optionsXpress. Comex copper this week hit a four-year low, with optionsXpress citing fears of slower global economic growth coupled with a rally in the U.S. dollar, which has hurt a number of commodities. The red metal also was hurt when the manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index for China, the world’s largest copper-consuming nation, posted its lowest reading in eight months. “While the current outlook for copper prices appears to be negative, current price levels may force producers to begin to limit the expansion of copper mines, which should help to prevent the potential for overproduction in the coming years,” optionsXpress says. “This should help to place an eventual floor for copper prices, but an eventual low may not be put into place for months in the future.” March copper this week bottomed at $2.7775 a pound. On a futures continuation chart, this was the lowest level since June 2010.
Gold Sees a Short-Covering, Bargain-Hunting Bounce
Gold prices are moderately higher in early U.S. trading Wednesday, on a short-covering rebound in the futures market and on some perceived bargain-basement buying in the cash market.
Read moreADP Shows 208K Private Sector Jobs Created In November
(Kitco News) – U.S. companies slowed their pace of hiring in November, according to a report released by payrolls processor ADP Wednesday.
About Face
Gold pulled back today in the face of stronger equities, a solid rise in the dollar and new weakness in oil.
Read moreAnalysts See Short-Term Boost For Gold, Euro Thursday With No New ECB QE
(Kitco News) – Gold and the euro could see short-term rallies Thursday as the European Central Bank holds off introducing new quantitative easing measures following its monetary policy meeting, some analysts say.
Read moreGold Sees Corrective Pullback Amid Bearish Outside Markets
Gold prices ended the U.S. day session solidly lower Tuesday and gave back about half of Monday’s strong gains. Lower crude oil prices and a sharply higher U.S. dollar index were bearish “outside market” forces working against the precious metals markets on this day. February Comex gold was last down $20.00 at $1,198.10 an ounce. Spot gold was last down $13.70 at $1,199.50. March Comex silver last traded down $0.257 at $16.43 an ounce.
Metals Focus: India Changes Gold Import Regime; Will It Make A Difference?
India’s decision last week to scrap the so-called 80-20 rule on gold imports may have only a modest impact on unofficial bullion imports, or smuggling, says Metals Focus. The rule had required 20% of all imports to be re-exported as a finished product. The surprise announcement was apparently taking with the current account deficit “seemingly under control,” helped by weaker oil prices, and aimed at curtailing unofficial imports and “round tripping,” Metals Focus says. “Of these two flows, round tripping, inextricably linked to 80-20, should now weaken considerably,” the consultancy says. “However, as the 10% import duty remains in place, we expect to see only a modest impact on unofficial bullion imports.” Round tripping refers to the export of crudely made gold jewelry, in order to meet the 80-20 rule, with the product then melted and shipped back to India. The impact of no 80-20 rule is less clear-cut on unofficial imports, Metals Focus says. “It is worth remembering that a key reason why unofficial flows have surged is not the introduction of 80-20, but the increase in the bullion import duty, which stands at 10%,” Metals Focus says. “This explains why unofficial shipments had already surged well before the 80-20 restriction was introduced in August 2013.” An estimate of 100 metric tons of bullion imports in November appears to have been weighted toward the first half of the month, Metals Focus says. This may have been due to confusion about what to expect in the way of policy changes, since many had expected the import rules to have been tightened and thus were buying gold ahead of time.
Higher Prices Encourage Large Speculators To Boost Gold Holdings – CFTC
Large speculators’ Comex gold futures and options holdings rose in the latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission weekly data, but the gains in the net-long position came on the back of short covering, which occurs when market participants buy back previously sold positions and exit the trade.