Reuters
Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:03pm EST
* Failure to break 50-day MA dents gold investors’
confidence
* Futures volume high, partly boosted be Feb-April rollover
* HSBC shifts allocation out of gold
* Coming up: U.S. December new home sales Friday
By Frank Tang
NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Bullion posted its biggest one
day drop in three weeks, falling 1 percent on Thursday after
repeatedly failing to break above a key technical resistance,
its 50-day moving average at under $1,700.
Investor confidence in gold was further eroded when major
bullion bank HSBC said in a note that it had halved its exposure
to gold, shifting its inflation hedge to U.S. Treasury
Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS).
A recovery in gold prices earlier this week ran out of steam
as the metal hit strong overhead resistance between $1,690 and
$1,700. Gold has failed to breach that level in the last five
sessions in a row.
“There are … important areas of resistance gold
encountered this week and so far unable to break above, which
are the multimonth downward trendline, the 50-day moving average
and the recent highs,” said Adam Sarhan, CEO of Sarhan Capital.
“I expect the recent trading range between $1,695 and $1,625
to continue,” he said.
Spot gold hit a low of $1,664.69 at just above its
200-day moving average. It was down 1 percent at $1,668.90 an
ounce by 2:19 p.m. EST (1919 GMT)
U.S. COMEX gold futures for February delivery settled
down $16.80 at $1,669.90 an ounce.
Trading volume was about 20 percent above its 250-day
average, preliminary Reuters data showed, partially boosted by
February-April contract rollover ahead of February’s
first-notice day on Jan. 31.
Silver, which tends to be more volatile than gold,
dropped 1.7 percent to $31.68 an ounce.
In the note, HSBC took a much less favorable view of the
metal as an inflation hedge. The bank attributed the move to a
decline in systematic risks, as the probability of a euro zone
breakup fell and “the most apocalyptic” of U.S. fiscal outlooks
was avoided.
HSBC cut gold’s weight in its 3-year strategic portfolio by
8 percentage points to 7 percent, and by 9 percentage points to
7 percent in its tactical portfolio.
Gold also came under pressure from the U.S. House of
Representatives’ passage of a bill late on Wednesday to extend
the U.S. debt ceiling limit to May 19, clearing it for fast
enactment after the top Senate Democrat and White House endorsed
it.
The move avoided a repeat of a 2011 standoff between
Washington lawmakers that sent gold to record highs at $1,920.30
an ounce, analysts said.
INDIAN DEMAND LANGUISHES
Physical buyers in main gold consumer India reported that
they were struggling to sell stocks despite offering discounts
to buyers, as the market digested a 50 percent hike in import
tax.
Holdings of the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, fell 1.8 tonnes on Wednesday,
bringing its overall outflow for the year to 16.7 tonnes.
More positively for prices, the Russian central bank’s First
Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said on Thursday Russia will
keep buying bullion. The bank said in 2005 it planned to lift
gold to 10 percent of forex reserves, a level it is approaching
after buying around 550 tonnes of gold in the last six years.
Among platinum group metals, platinum eased 0.4
percent to $1,677.50 an ounce and palladium edged up 0.1
percent to $724.50 an ounce.
2:19 PM EST LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL
US Gold FEB 1669.90 -16.80 -1.0 1664.20 1685.80 165,166
US Silver MAR 31.722 -0.717 -2.2 31.605 32.245 43,107
US Plat APR 1683.80 -8.00 -0.5 1676.00 1693.00 9,046
US Pall MAR 726.70 0.50 0.1 716.60 728.80 3,458
Gold 1668.90 -16.24 -1.0 1664.69 1686.06
Silver 31.680 -0.560 -1.7 31.630 32.250
Platinum 1677.50 -6.75 -0.4 1678.75 1689.00
Palladium 724.50 1.03 0.1 719.50 726.50
TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG
US Gold 213,429 150,922 173,862 12.58 0.03
US Silver 49,191 42,941 53,338 19.91 -1.24
US Platinum 9,193 16,012 10,842 17.07 0.01
US Palladium 3,617 3,325 4,810
URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/24/markets-precious-idUSL4N0AT45G20130124