8.16.2011

Gold Rises on Growth Fears

The spot price of gold rose as weaker-than-expected economic data from Germany and across the euro zone added to fears over global growth, bolstering demand for the yellow metal as an alternative store of value.
Market participants expect further gains in the gold market, with a break back above $1,800 a troy ounce "only a matter of time," a precious metals trader
Ahead of the New York day, spot gold was up $11.70, or 0.7%, at $1,777.90 an ounce.Interest in gold, widely perceived as a safe haven amid economic uncertainty, is strong as European stocks and a range of industry-linked commodities, including Brent oil futures, fell deeper into the red, weighed by disappointing gross domestic product data out of Europe's largest economy. German advanced 0.1% in the second quarter from the first three months of the year, and 2.7% on an annual basis—a slowdown from the first quarter, when growth was 1.3% on the quarter and 4.7% on the year.
Furthermore, the euro-zone economy as a whole grew more slowly in the second quarter than at any time since the end of the recession in the same period of 2009. That should help to underpin demand for gold for now, market participants say.
Investors are meanwhile cautiously awaiting a meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel later Tuesday to discuss the European debt crisis. They are seeking ways to reassure investors and maintain access to international bond markets for the governments of Italy and Spain.
The gold trend, though, remains upward and the correction over the past few days "is really nothing more than that: a correction in a well-defined bull move independent market commentator and publisher of The Gartman Letter, Dennis Gartman. the hedge fund run by Steven Cohen, disclosed a new position in options, valued at $628 million, on the gold exchange-traded The position was disclosed in the hedge fund's quarterly snapshot of its U.S. investment holdings and contained in a regulatory filing. And while Soros Fund Management further pared its holdings in the fund, which fell to 42,800 shares as of June 30, compared with 49,400 at the end of the first quarter, Paulson & Co. maintained its $4.6 billion stake, filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed. Among other precious metals, spot silver was down 49 cents, or 1.2%, at $39.43 an ounce, spot platinum was up $3, or 0.2%, at $1,809 an ounce and spot palladium was down $5, or 0.7%, at $743 an ounce.

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