The Hunger for (Cheaper) Gold Continues Unabated !

• The Hunger for (Cheaper) Gold Continues Unabated! 
  by Kelly Smith, http://news.sharpspixley.com/ 
  The U.S. Comex gold futures surged 4.76 percent to $1,462.0 on Thursday, about 6.6 percent below the closing level of 11 April before the rout  occurred.  During Asian Friday morning, the gold futures reached as high as 1,484.80.  Gold prices have recovered roughly half of what they  lost.  The Dollar Index barely budged this week and ended at 82.744 on  Thursday.  The S&P 500 index, the Euro Stoxx 50 index and the CRB  Commodity Index rebounded 1.92 percent, 5.02 percent and 1.39 percent  respectively this week.
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  Lining up to Buy Gold
  After gold has fallen into a bear market on 12 April, physical demand  has soared.  According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Mint sold 196,500 ounces  of gold coins this month through 24 April, more than three times the  volume in March.  Demand for gold is un-abating at both the U.S. Mint  and the U.K.’s Royal Mint.  The physical gold sold to India exceeded its highest record by 20 percent, reported by Standard Chartered.  The gold premiums in Hong Kong and Singapore reached $3 an ounce, an  eighteenth-month high.  The World Gold Council in the Far East remarked  that the Asian’s hunger for the cheaper gold has exceeded the  expectation of global investors.  In the past ten days in the Shanghai  Gold Exchange, the daily volume of the benchmark contract was more than  four times of the 2012’s daily average.  Before the latest rout in gold, Russia’s central bank boosted gold by 4.7 metric tons in March while  Kazakhstan bought 1.2 tons.  The emerging countries’ central banks will  likely take advantage of the gold price plunge to continue to add to  gold, which is seen as an alternative currency and an inflation hedge.   Bloomberg reported that hedge fund managers turned into buyers and net  added gold for two consecutive weeks.  As the global economic data have  turned softer recently, central banks such as the ECB are likely to  continue to ease rather than terminate the ease prematurely. 
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  What to Monitor Next Week
  Lots of events to watch next week including the April Germany  unemployment change on 29 April, the U.S. April consumer confidence  index on 30 April, the U.S. FOMC meeting decision and the April U.S. ISM manufacturing index on 1 May, the ECB interest rate decision on 2 May  and the U.S. April non-farm payrolls on 2 May.  

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