Wednesday, November 16, 2005
International Demand Drives Gold Higher
MarketWatch reports on this mornings metal action. "Gold futures climbed as much as $10 an ounce Wednesday to a one-month high, silver prices rose above $8 an ounce to their loftiest level since December 2004 and platinum futures rallied to a fresh 26-year high."
"Strong physical demand, central-bank buying and concerns about inflation drove the broad rally, analysts said. 'It is physical demand from China and strong buying from India in September [that] really pushed the gold market into this bullish trend,' said Thomas Hartmann."
"December silver climbed as high as $8.025 an ounce, its highest intraday level since December 2004. The contract last traded up 20.8 cents at $7.99 an ounce."
"Foreign-currency weakness helped fuel gains in gold, said John Person. 'European buying has been strong as doubts are increasing over economic stability, [and] inflation expectations are mounting,' he said, pointing out that Bundesbank President Alex Webber believes 'inflation in Germany has a potential to exceed expectations.'"
"Hartmann said the metals also found support from statements made by a few central banks, particularly South Africa and Russia. 'They hinted rather explicitly about scooping up more gold reserves,' he said. 'Early 2005 was filled with reports of central banks selling gold, but we've seen bank reserves in gold fall to about 9%, while historically it's been as high as 15%, meaning there's some room for buying.'"
"Strong physical demand, central-bank buying and concerns about inflation drove the broad rally, analysts said. 'It is physical demand from China and strong buying from India in September [that] really pushed the gold market into this bullish trend,' said Thomas Hartmann."
"December silver climbed as high as $8.025 an ounce, its highest intraday level since December 2004. The contract last traded up 20.8 cents at $7.99 an ounce."
"Foreign-currency weakness helped fuel gains in gold, said John Person. 'European buying has been strong as doubts are increasing over economic stability, [and] inflation expectations are mounting,' he said, pointing out that Bundesbank President Alex Webber believes 'inflation in Germany has a potential to exceed expectations.'"
"Hartmann said the metals also found support from statements made by a few central banks, particularly South Africa and Russia. 'They hinted rather explicitly about scooping up more gold reserves,' he said. 'Early 2005 was filled with reports of central banks selling gold, but we've seen bank reserves in gold fall to about 9%, while historically it's been as high as 15%, meaning there's some room for buying.'"
# posted by Ben Jones @ 9:05 AM 
