By
Sharps Pixley Ltd -
Fri 20 Apr 2012 04:03:52 CT
Related Keywords:
Metals
Gold futures traded nervously on Wednesday, falling 0.7% to $1,639.6,
on the eve of the Spanish and French bond auction, and recovered
slightly to $1,641.4 by the end of Thursday. S&P fell 1% while the
Stoxx fell 3.5% in the past 2 days. The US 10-year Treasury ended below
2% for 5 days in a row.
Both Spain and France governments got what they targeted though the
costs were higher. The yield on the 10-year Spanish debt jumped 34bp to
5.743% since the last auction in January. But the 10-year yield
continued to rise after the auction to about 5.9%, approaching the
critical 6% area.
The rising yield may bring in more global officials money for
intervention. IMF Director, Christine Lagarde who called Europe the
"epicenter" of potential global storms today believed she could reach
her $400 billion goal of additional IMF lending capacity while the World
Bank President, Robert Zoellick stated that the ECB needed to do more
for Europe in addition to LTRO. The expectation of more liquidity
coming into the system may have given gold price a reprieve.
However, there are more complex factors in play for gold price than just
liquidity. In their Q1 2012 gold investment statistics commentary, the
World Gold Council (WGC) explained that gold has had a challenging
first quarter.
While investors speculated that a U.S. recovery and rising U.S. real
rate would cause gold price to fall, the fact that gold demand is no
longer just coming from the U.S. and Europe, but from emerging countries
such as China and India means that gold price may respond differently
to changes in U.S. real rate. Rising foreign demand for gold signals
that gold is not just a dollar hedge but also a global currency hedge.
Also gold has acted as hedges against asset deflation and inflation,
both likely outcomes of the still-evolving European debt crisis.
While gold price seems to go up and down with equities in the
short-term, WGC clarified that gold's long-term relationship with risky
assets, such as U.S. equities, has been hovering around zero
historically, which means gold acts as a good portfolio diversifier.
Next Monday's EU17 PMI data, Akshaya Trithiya which starts on 24 April
and next Wednesday's U.S. FOMC meeting are key events to watch for gold
investors.
Austin Kiddle
Sharps Pixley, London
www.sharpspixley.com
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*Disclaimer: The information in the Market Commentaries was obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed therein constitutes a solicitation of the purchase or sale of any futures or options contracts.