Metals

President Donald Trump is headed for a showdown with America’s allies at a Group of Seven summit this week in Quebec, with the European Union and Canada threatening retaliatory measures […]

Global equities have powered ahead in recent weeks, in line with our pro-growth investment stance. Our view remains that the global macro backdrop should continue to support investor economic confidence and drive the valuations higher over the next year.

Still, there is a risk for some near-term disappointments, given that the Chinese housing market and industrial economy are maybe downshifting more than investors acknowledge. Also, the US ISM manufacturing index has been boosted by US dollar weakness and is likely to pull back somewhat.

The yellow metal is continuing to trade against the buck at the intersection of large ascending channel and junior rising wedge formations.

Although the larger pattern managed to constrain the bullish sentiment for now, but the rising 55-, 100- and 200-hour SMAs as well as ongoing concerns over implementation of the US President Donald Trump’s tax plan suggest that such upward movement is going to continue and might actually reach the upper trend-line of another dominant descending channel near the 1,293.00 mark.

Swiss scientists say that $3.4 million worth of gold and silver end up in the nation’s waste treatment plants annually.
According to scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag) about 43 kilograms of gold and three tonnes of silver pass through the nation’s wastewater treatment plant every year. With gold prices hovering just below $1,300 and silver above $17 an ounce, that waste is worth around $3.4 million annually – in other words that is expensive poop.

China’s iron ore futures rose on Friday and were on course to extend their winning streak to a ninth straight week, backed by firm steel consumption in the world’s top user.

China’s infrastructure push, spurred by its public-private partnership (PPP) projects to lure private investment in infrastructure and public utility projects, has boosted steel demand this year, fattening margins at construction steel producers to the biggest in years.

What factors would determine the future performance of gold prices?

I suppose that it is all about the outlook for the trend of interest rates in the United States. By that I mean the Treasury Inflation Protected Securities yield and the federal funds rate. In my opinion, these would be the factors that will drive the price of gold. At this point in time, our view is that the fed fund rate will be moving higher, thus, we are not anticipating much more strength in gold prices, not much beyond the $1,300 to $1,350.

The price of gold fell to a multiweek low on Monday after a trader made a grave mistake. Spot gold fell around 1% Monday morning to trade as low as $1,236.46, which marks the lowest level the commodity has seen since May 17, Bloomberg reported. U.S. gold futures also lost nearly 1 percent to trade at $1,245.40 an ounce.

The decline in gold is attributed to a large market order of 18,500 lots of gold, which represents 1.85 million ounces. This was likely a mistake, or a "fat finger" trade, as the order is bigger than anything seen at the peak of domestic political turmoil and the surprising outcome from the Brexit vote.

Glencore has sharply raised the stakes in the bidding war for Rio Tinto’s Hunter Valley coal mines by delivering a fresh $2.675 billion offer for the assets. In an announcement in London, Glencore said it would increase its offer by $125 million in an attempt to trump Yancoal’s $2.45 billion bid, which had been selected by Rio Tinto.

However, in a major sweetener Glencore said it would expedite payment to Rio Tinto with a cash settlement once the deal is completed.