Gold
Trading in gold has been fairly static this morning with the market
looking for direction from the release of non-farm payroll data, due
out today. A bullish note for the long term prospects of gold was
chimed today on the news that the ECB has agreed to only sell 400
tonnes of gold per annum over the next 5 years, down 100 tonnes per
annum from previous announcements. Importantly, the ECB said that,
"gold remains an important element of global monetary reserves." With
annual demand already outstripping production, this news will bolster
the viability of gold as a diversifier and inflation hedge.
Silver
Silver is holding steady above $14.50/oz and is currently trading at $14.57/oz.
Platinum group metals
Although platinum is down $23 to $1,237/oz in early trading there is
still a lot of support for the entire group. The US government car
trade-in scheme has garnered additional funding and although the
possibility of a strike by the state electricity provider in South
Africa, the main provider of platinum may be subsiding, investors are
still hedging against the prospect that if the lights do go out in the
mines, then we could be looking at the platinum price soaring above the
$2,000/oz level as it did the last time there were electricity supply
problems. Palladium is at $266/oz and rhodium $1,625/$1,725/oz.
