Gold price probe extended to Deutsche Bank - CNBC.com

Gold price probe extended to Deutsche Bank - CNBC.com
Gold price finds footing ahead of Fed | MINING.com
Kiwis buy bargain price gold - money - business | Stuff.co.nz
Gold price drops again as December ETF outflows hit 17 tonnes ...

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 04:18 PM PST

Not much good news for Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank's second-quarter pretax profit missed analyst expectations. Annette Weisbach looks at their numbers in more detail.

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority has also been looking at precious metals as part of a broader review of financial benchmarks. With an estimated 175 million ounces of gold, worth $215 billion at today's prices, changing hands daily on the over-the-counter market, London is the global center of gold trading. However, the FCA has not launched a formal investigation.

Some bankers believe BaFin has come under pressure to show it is willing to get tough on suspected market manipulation. It was widely seen to have been slow to respond to the concerns over possible manipulation in the forex market expressed by other regulators around the world earlier this year.

Although the gold and silver fixings are, like Libor, set by small groups of banks, they contrast with the process for setting Libor in that they are based on trading activity rather than theoretical quotes.

Executives at major gold traders say their contact with the FCA on the subject has so far been largely limited to general questions. But the German regulator's probe into the foreign exchange market has moved beyond informal discussions with banks. BaFin is now asking for information in the form of emails and documents, said a person familiar with the situation.

The visit to Deutsche offices signals that BaFin now has greater concerns over the precious metals markets. Officials have asked to observe documents and processes related to precious metals trading as well as to interview bankers, the person said.

BaFin confirmed that it had been looking into the possible manipulation of gold and silver prices, as well as foreign exchange benchmark rates, since the summer, but declined to comment on specific institutions. The regulator first confirmed it was conducting a probe into the gold and silver market in November.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

Gold price finds footing ahead of Fed | MINING.com

Posted: 13 Dec 2013 01:28 PM PST

The gold price enjoyed a nice bounce of nearly $13 or 1% an ounce on Friday ahead of a decision by the US Federal Reserve next week on winding down its US monetary stimulus program.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at $1,237.70 an ounce at the close, up $12.80 from yesterday in light Friday trade.

The Federal Open Market Committee could announce a reduction in purchases under its quantitative easing program that has pumped $4 trillion of easy money into the US economy at its two-day meeting ending on Wednesday.

The Fed has been reviewing QE and is eager to throttle back asset purchases running at $85 billion a month at the first signs of a solid economic recovery in the US; something the data have been supporting recently.

Most observers believe the impact on the gold market of the eventual QE taper announcement would be minimal unless the cuts are much more than anticipated or it hints at a radically different direction for monetary policy, something that is unlikely so near a change of leadership at the central bank.

The dreaded taper has been signposted for months and should now be baked into the gold price.

More damaging to the gold price than a Fed move is the continued dumping of gold-backed ETFs by hedge funds and big money managers.

While physical demand for the metal from Asia is growing the volumes being liquidated in the West have become overwhelming.

The holdings of the world's largest gold ETF, SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) has dropped some 15 tonnes so far this month, falling to the lowest level since January 2009.

GLD has experienced year-to-date outflows of 526 tonnes to 827.6 tonnes, down more than 38% from the start of the year.

Kiwis buy bargain price gold - money - business | Stuff.co.nz

Posted: 15 Dec 2013 12:00 AM PST

Kiwis are snapping up gold after the price of the precious metal sank to one of its lowest levels in three years last week.

Spot gold prices dropped by US$30 to US$1224.90 an ounce on Thursday night on jitters that the United States Federal Reserve would finally end quantitative easing.

That sent the phones ringing at one of the country's biggest gold bullion merchants, NZ Mint.

Chief executive Simon Harding said gold was seen as a hedge against inflation so the prospect of rising interest rates meant the precious metal lost some of its allure.

There had been strong activity from both buyers and sellers, with investors divided about the US economy.

"It's really a dichotomous view of the market. For every person who thinks no, the Fed's going to ease tapering and gold's going to lose its shine, there's somebody else who thinks, this is a bargain, I'm going to climb in now."

At another major merchant, New Zealand Gold Hunters, it was all about the buyers.

Trader John Hunter said that had been a trend since April, when the gold price dropped US$200 to US$1611 overnight, the biggest slump in 30 years.

Demand was strong. "We are seeing a large number of significant purchases of gold - over $100,000."

It was a far cry from when gold peaked at US$1900 in 2011 and Hunter blamed investors on the gold futures market for dumping their stock.

"When they discovered they couldn't make the money they thought they could, they just kept on dumping it.

"I see this price continuing through till February, maybe March. The reasons for the price of gold climbing to its highs in 2011 haven't changed. The American dollar is still in deep trouble."

The gold price was still volatile on Friday but the New Zealand dollar was strong which meant Kiwis were getting more for their money, Hunter said.

On Sunday the price of gold had bounced back to US$1236.50. Fairfax NZ

Gold price drops again as December ETF outflows hit 17 tonnes ...

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 10:39 AM PST

The gold price slumped more than $30 or close to 2.5% an ounce on Thursday as a December taper of US monetary stimulus begins to look more likely and liquidation of gold-backed ETFs continue apace.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at $1,226.80 an ounce during lunchtime dealings, down $30.40 from yesterday and not far off the day's weakest level of $1224,20.

Dealings were brisk, with over 130,000 futures changing hands compared to a daily average of 150,000 contracts by 12:50 EST.

A likely deal on a budget from US lawmakers which would avert a government shutdown, has removed a substantial hurdle for the Federal Reserve to start winding down its quantitative easing program that has pumped $4 trillion of easy money into the US economy.

The Fed has been reviewing QE and is eager to throttle back asset purchases at the first signs of a solid economic recovery in the US and without the threat of a repeat of a October's political mess, the bank could start to taper the $85 billion a month program as soon as next week at its final meeting for the year.

Bond yields on the 10-year remain around 2.8% and should the Fed start cutting back it is likely to rise, giving further impetus for investors to dump gold for higher yielding assets.

Something that hedge funds and larger investors in gold have been doing consistently since April.

Another 17 tonnes have left gold-backed exchange traded funds in December, with holdings of the world's largest gold ETF, SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) already down just under 10 tonnes.

Bullion held by the fund established November 2004 are now at their lowest level since January 2009.

Net redemptions slowed dramatically from the torrid pace of the second quarter, but started picking up again in October. GLD has experienced year-to-date outflows of 517 tonnes or 16.6 million ounces to 833.2 tonnes, down some 38% from the start of the year.

The continued outflows from gold ETFS also come after data from US Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed hedge funds are now the least bullish on the yellow metal since 2007 when gold averaged around $700 an ounce.

Net-long positions held by commercial gold traders – bets that the price will rise – fell by 16% to a mere 26,774 contracts last week data from Danish investment bank Saxo shows.

Gold price probe extended to Deutsche Bank - CNBC.com

<b>Gold price</b> probe extended to Deutsche Bank - CNBC.com

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