Gold
Gold trades at $943.30/oz with no significant moves over night. A
disappointing durable goods number yesterday sent industrial stocks
lower while US house prices posted their strongest results in three
years. The Dow finished up neutral after a choppy day of trading.
Overnight, the Asian markets closed mostly flat to down slightly on the
back of investor cautiousness. Despite small falls in gold ETF
holdings, they remain robust showing that allocations are 'sticky' and
long term passive funds rather than hot money. Sarkozy's comments
yesterday that the dollar cannot remain the world's reserve currency in
a multi-polar world is another medium to long term dollar bearish omen.
Silver
Silver is trading at $14.26/oz.
Platinum Group Metals
The workers at the Impala Platinum plants in South Africa have rejected
further wage increase proposals and are now seeking a 14% rise. There
may be choppy trading and sharp rises in the PGMs until the striking
parties come to an agreement with their employers. Platinum is trading
at $1,236/oz while rhodium and palladium are trading at $1,650/oz and
$285/oz respectively.
