Gold rose back towards yesterday's 3-week peaks in London on Wednesday, pushing higher against all major currencies as world stock markets slipped.
Gold held close to the previous session's near three-week high in Europe on Wednesday, supported by an increased focus on inflation after China's second interest rate hike in six weeks.
For Esther Moloto, the 32-year-old owner of a little house on top of the world's biggest platinum reserves, the sound of progress is falling plaster.
Impala Platinum, the world's second-largest producer of the precious metal, said on Wednesday its first-half earnings likely increased by up to 65 percent, lifted by stronger sales and higher prices.
The main gold exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, recorded its biggest ever one-day outflow on Tuesday. The precious metal is taking some support from physical demand after its slide to its lowest since October 28, but buying interest remains lackluster.
A Japanese company is selling gold coins and mini bars through an automatic vending machine to improve ease of purchase and reduce final price.
Gold turned weaker on technical selling on Monday, after the metal initially rose as a lower dollar and lingering worries about an European debt crisis helped recoup some lost ground from a two-month low last week.
Gold rose on Monday as lower prices after the metal's third consecutive weekly loss attracted some buyers back to the market, but a more optimistic view of global growth still limited fresh investment.
By lunchtime in London – and compared with New Year 2011's record highs – the Gold Price in Dollars stood 6% lower, in Euros 7.5% down, and in British Pounds nearly 9% lower.
Gold touched a two-month low in Europe on Friday, pressured by a firmer appetite for assets seen as higher risk on expectations the economic recovery was gaining traction, but a retreat in the dollar prevented a steeper drop.
Silver prices could hit an incredible $120 in just three years, propelled by a physical shortage in the silver market and further momentum in economic recovery, CommodityOnline has reported citing a report by thesilvershortage.com.
German precious metals refinery group Heraeus reports massive demand for bars and coins, even as ETF trust funds and Comex futures contracts saw considerable profit-taking driven liquidations by institutional traders.
An upward sloping consolidation in Gold that began in October has, despite a lack of any real losses, been enough to improve various sentiment indicators.
Gold fell in Europe on Friday after China's central bank raised lenders' reserve requirements by 50 basis points, with softer haven demand for the metal after solid bond sales by Portugal and Spain also weighing on prices.
South African blue-chip stocks booked another 2-1/2-year closing high on Thursday, rising 0.6 percent as shares of Anglo Platinum and other resource companies continued their recent run.
Talking to people in the Chinese market over the weekend, writes Jeff Toshima, Tokyo director of the World Gold Council, in today's Nikkei Money, I was amazed to discover the number of gold saving accounts at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has grown above 1,000,000 within a year of ICBC launching the service.
Gold prices rose in Europe on Wednesday, as a retreat in the dollar, rising oil prices and caution ahead of a sale of Portuguese bonds later in the day all boosted interest in the precious metal.
Topics of this interview include Scott Carter highlighting the global dynamic of today's interest in gold, and how macro-economic trends continue to drive the decade long bull market of the precious metals. We also evaluate the possibility of seeing QE3 in 2011.
Japanese researchers at the Kyoto University have broken the rare earth import jinx as they have created a new alloy which resembles rare metal palladium, bringing a sigh of relief to countries depending on Chinese exports of rare earth metals.
The entire precious metals complex had a stellar run in 2010, led by palladium's 97 percent rise and Silver's 83 percent gain. Gold yielded investors a 29.7 percent profit in 2010, the tenth consecutive annual gain in a row.
The Gold Price in Dollars hit a 3-session high in London on Monday, rising alongside world stock markets and commodities on what one trader called relief that Beijing did not hike Chinese interest rates as expected at the weekend.
The Gold Price held near last night's new record highs for US, Euro and Sterling investors in London trade on Tuesday, recording an AM Gold Fix at $1426 per ounce as world stock markets gained more than 1.5%.
