31 May 2013
Berita Semasa 31 Mei 2013 ...
Paris Mint issues new Gold, Silver coin series
There are three different 5 euro silver coins which each contain the values included in the French Motto Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite
The Monnaie de Paris or Paris Mint has just launched a new gold and silver coin series which presents the values of the French Republic.
The designs are quite intriguing, with the silver coins containing the French words for the the values with the arrangement and appearance inspired by the words themselves.
The differing patterns applied to the letters and their arrangement provide an impression of the meaning of the word. The other silver coins use different typography, sizing, arrangement ,and shapes to express the specific values.
There are three different 5 euro silver coins which each contain the values included in the French Motto Liberte, Egalite,Fraternite
The coins are struck in 33.3% silver with a weight of 7.3 grams and diameter of 26 mm.This makes for silver content of about 0.078 troy ounces per coin. The mintage for each coin is 2,000,000 pieces
The three different 25 euro silver coins contain the values Justice,Lacinte (secularism), and Respect. These coins are struck in 50% silver with a weight of 18 grams and diameter of 33 mm. Silver content for each coin is about 0.289 troy ounces. The mintage for each is 100,000 pieces.
There is one 250 euro gold coin issued for Paix (peace). This coin is struck in 99.9% purity with a weight of 3.89 grams and diameter of 23 mm. This is about 0.125 troy ounces of gold content. The mintage is 50,000 pieces.
Each of the seven coins contain portions of the letters “RF” which is apparent when the coins are placed together.
Last, there is one 500 euro gold coin representing all of the seven values. This will be available by subscription in September.
The 5euro , 25euro , and 250 euro coins are currently available in the Monnaie de Paris e-Shoppriced at their face values. Many world coin dealers will also no doubt offer these coins.
The Monnaie de Paris (Paris Mint) or, more administratively speaking, the "Direction of Coins and Medals", is an administration of the French government charged with issuing coins as well as producing medals and other similar items. Many ancient coins are housed there. Created in 864, it is the oldest French institution.
Sumber : Google
30 May 2013
Berita Semasa 30 Mei 2013 ...
Russia produces 35.24 tons of Gold in Q1-2013
Gold extraction grew by 6.34 per cent to 29.33 tons, while gold output from scrap and waste processing rose 5.87 per cent to 2.036 tons.
World's fourth largest gold producer, Russia refined 35.235 metric tons of gold in January-March 2013, up 4.37 per cent from a year earlier.
According to Russian Gold Industrialists Union the output also included gold extracted by gold miners and gold from the associated output of non-ferrous metals.
Associated production of gold from non-ferrous metals fell 9.02 percent to 3.868 tons, Union said.
Gold extraction grew by 6.34 per cent to 29.33 tons, while gold output from scrap and waste processing rose 5.87 per cent to 2.036 tons.
“In the first quarter of 2013, gold in all gold-mining regions was mainly produced from gold ore deposits,” the union said.
The growth in first quarter gold output was achieved by gold mining companies in Krasnoyarsk Territory in East Siberia, Khabarovsk Territory and the Magadan Region in the Russian Far East, the Republic of Khakassia in south-central Siberia, the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk Regions in the Urals.
Russia’s gold production in 2012 grew by 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 225.846 tons, including 199.801 tons of gold from subsoil extraction (up 6.9 per cent), 17.513 tons of associated gold production (up 5 per cent) and 8.532 tons of secondary gold output (up 7.9 per cent).
Sumber : Google
29 May 2013
Berita Semasa 29 Mei 2013 ...
India Gold markets still on Akshaya Trithiya break
Analysts said any further increase on gold bars and coins may deter jewelry buyers and investors before the monsoon arrives.
Indian gold markets are yet to recover from the 'Akshaya Trithiya break' as major players await further guidelines from country's central bank on gold imports.
Gold sales dropped as people and traders alike wait for further directions from authorities and also hope for big fluctuations in prices as in the mid-April plunge.
The Indian households' jewellery purchases depend largely upon discretionary spending power which is affected by a reduction in the savings rate driven by high consumer price inflation and muted wage growth.
Additionally, the emergence of alternate investment options such as gold exchange traded funds, gold coins and bullion may structurally reduce demand for gold jewellery as an investment option.
Thus, business risk facing this sector is likely to increase and may be reflected by a higher volatility of revenue and margins, in line with the business cycle.
To curb the widening current account deficit, India banned the import of gold on payment of margin basis, following up on a 50 percent import duty hike in January.
The tax on bars and coins was doubled to 4 percent in March after imports jumped to a record 969 metric tons in 2011.
Analysts said any further increase on gold bars and coins may deter jewelry buyers and investors before the monsoon arrives.
They added that supplies may remain tight until fresh guidelines on imports are issued by the Reserve Bank of India, probably later in the month. India's gold imports plunged 42 percent to 340 tons in the first half
Sumber : Google
28 May 2013
Berita Semasa 28 Mei 2013 ...
SBI Mutual Fund launches Gold accumulation facility
SBI Gold Fund is an open ended fund, which enables the common man to invest systematically in gold without the need of buying and storing physical gold and that too without a demat account.
SBI Mutual Fund has launched a gold accumulation facility fund that would allow investors to invest in the scheme based on a specific quantity of the fund house's ETF unit.
"A customer research says that investors generally prefer investing in gold on the basis of quantity more than its value. With the gold accumulation facility, SBI gold fund now offers one of the best investment opportunities to the investors," SBI MF managing director and CEO Deepak Chatterjee said.
Earlier, SBI gold fund investors could invest only by value of SIP amount alone and not by quantity.
With the introduction of this facility, it would now be additionally possible for investors to invest on the basis of quantity of gold (grammage) via the same systematic investment plan and systematic transfer plan (STP) route.
SBI Gold Fund is an open ended fund, which enables the common man to invest systematically in gold without the need of buying and storing physical gold and that too without a demat account.
Sumber : Google
27 May 2013
Berita Semasa 27 Mei 2013 ...
Gold physical demand may weaken,ETF outflows pose risk: Barclays
On the macro side, the situation is bullish.US Fed's asset purchases have boosted risk asset prices. The rising equity strength has proved too much for gold and continued strength in equities is likely to continue to cap upside momentum in gold prices, Barclays said.
Gold is at risk due to a slowdown in physical demand while ETF outflows continue to be strong except for last Thursday when infows turned positive. If physical demand support prices at $1500 level, the risk of continued ETF outflows would subside, according to Barclays Research.
Indian demand has weakened after aggressively responding ot lower prices while record demand from China has eased, albeit remaining elevated.
Price forecasts: Q2 13: $1350/oz, 2013: $1483/oz.
On the macro side, the situation is bullish.US Fed's asset purchases have boosted risk asset prices. The rising equity strength has proved too much for gold and continued strength in equities is likely to continue to cap upside momentum in gold prices, Barclays said.
Gold ETP holdings continued their downward march last week, with the exception of Thursday when SPDR recorded its first daily inflow since 19 March. That said, the outflows resumed on Friday and holdings are at their lowest since October 2011, now at 2379 tonnes. So far in May, outflows have hit 39 tonnes, bringing year-to-date outflows to 381 tonnes—compared to 279 tonnes of net inflows in 2012. Outflows now represent 14% of the 2767 tonne peak holdings at the start of this year.�
Tactical positioning in Comex gold has scaled back further by 7.6k lots, according to the latest CFTC data for the week ending 7 May.
The fall in net positioning was split roughly evenly between a fall in long positioning of 4k lots, and a rise in short positioning of 3.7k lots. Once again, gross shorts have scaled another high and are now at their highest on record (database commences 1987), and speculative positioning now makes up just 20% of open interest, the lowest since July 2007. Although tactical investors have yet to turn favourable towards gold, the data suggests that prices could find support from a short covering rally.�
Fundamentals remain supportive of Gold but volumes in India have dropped so has trade volumes at Shanghai Gold Exchange. In India, traders expect symbolic purchasing on Akshsaya Tritiya day on Monday, May 13.
Technical strategy: BEARISH�
"The end-of-week break lower in gold helps keep our focus lower. We expect selling interest near the former range lows to cap the upside. Look for a move back toward the April lows near 1320. Ultimately, given the magnitude of the sell-off back in 2008 (approximately 34%), we see downside scope toward 1300 and potentially the 1275 area before we would look for signs of a base.�Support 1400 1320; Resistance 1490 1522,"Barclays said.
Sumber : Google
26 May 2013
Berita Semasa 26 Mei 2013 ...
Gold, Silver edge lower as dollar holds gains
Since breaking through JPY100 last week, the Dollar has held most of its gains against the Japanese currency, while the US Dollar Index, which measures the Dollar's strength against a basket of other currencies, is trading close to one-year highs.
Gold bullion fell to $1430 per ounce Monday, 1.2% down on where it ended last week, as stock markets also fell and the US Dollar held onto most of its gains from last week.
Silver fell to $23.70 an ounce - 0.8% down on last week's close - as other commodities also fell, with the exception of copper.
India's central bank meantime confirmed proposed restrictions on gold imports that one refiner said could lead to gold imports falling by half this year.
Since breaking through JPY100 last week, the Dollar has held most of its gains against the Japanese currency, while the US Dollar Index, which measures the Dollar's strength against a basket of other currencies, is trading close to one-year highs.
"Yen selling will have been encouraged by the outcome from [last week's] G7 meeting," says Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi currency analyst Lee Hardman, "where officials reiterated that they will tolerate Yen weakness as long as it results from the use of domestic instruments to stimulate the Japanese economy."
The US Federal Reserve meantime has "mapped out a strategy" for winding down its $85 billion a month asset purchase program, known as quantitative easing, according to an article by the Wall Street Journal's Jon Hilsenrath over the weekend, although "the timing on when to start is still being debated" it adds.
Hilsenrath - whom some fellow journalists have dubbed 'Fedwire' on account of a supposed closeness to the Fed - also filed a piece profiling current Fed vice chair Janet Yellen, describing her as a "top contender" to succeed Ben Bernanke as chair.
In a speech earlier this year Yellen said the US faces "a long road back to a healthy job market" and that Fed policymakers are "actively engaged in continuing efforts to promote a stronger economy, more jobs, and better conditions for all workers".
The so-called speculative net long position of Comex gold futures and options traders - calculated as the difference between 'bullish' long and 'bearish' short contracts held by noncommercial traders - fell to its lowest reported level since November 2008 last Tuesday, equivalent to 245.3 tonnes, according to weekly data published Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
"Underlying moves, while not particularly violent, were bearish," says a note from Standard Bank.
"Speculative shorts saw 11.8 tonnes added, while 10.7 tonnes in long positions were unwound."
The Dollar value of India's trade deficit rose to $17.8 billion last month, up from $10.3 billion in March and $14.0 billion in April 2012, according to government data published Monday. Imports of gold bullion into India, traditionally the world's biggest gold buying nation, jumped 138% in April as the gold price fell sharply.
Bullion imports have stayed strong this month, according to reports, ahead of today's Akshaya Tritiya festival as well as proposed import restrictions from the central bank, which were confirmed today.
The Reserve Bank of India confirmed Monday it will implement its proposed restrictions on banks importing gold on a consignment basis, whereby bullion is shipped but ownership remains with the supplier.
"To moderate the demand for gold for domestic use, it has been decided to restrict the import of gold on consignment basis by banks, only to meet the genuine needs of exporters of gold jewelry," said a statement from the central bank.
"The country's overall gold imports will be hurt [by these restrictions]," says Ashwini Kapoor, general manager of the precious metals division at state-run refiner MMTC.
"Volumes will fall by 50% in the current fiscal year."
Over in Europe, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Monday that Slovenia "can manage" without a bailout.
Sumber : Google
25 May 2013
Berita Semasa 25 Mei 2013 ...
US Gold futures trade in $1420-60 range,weakness may continue
The fall in holdings in exchange traded funds and rising short positions in US futures continue to cause concern for the yellow metal's prospects. Holdings in exchange-traded products backed by bullion dropped to 2,225.9 metric tons yesterday, the least since July 2011.
US Gold futures has rebounded on Tuesday due to a softer dollar after showing weakness in the past few days. US futures for June delivery closed at $1434.3/Oz on Monday and in globex platform gold is now traidng at $1437.7 �after hititng a high of $1444.9/Oz.
On technical charts, gold continues to be in bearish territory but not in oversold position and RSI of 42.29 indicates move towards neutral territoryu while prices are more closer to the lower bollinger band of $1385.20, Sreekumar Raghavan, Chief Strategist at Commodity Online said.
The dollar has rallied 4.1 percent against a six-currency basket including the yen and the euro this year as data showed the U.S. economy strengthening, while the Bank of Japan undertook unprecedented stimulus and the European Central Bank cut interest rates to a record. Gold has dropped 14 percent this year after 12 straight years of gains as some investors lost faith in the metal as a store of value, Bloomberg reported.
The fall in holdings in exchange traded funds and rising short positions in US futures continue to cause concern for the yellow metal's prospects. Holdings in exchange-traded products backed by bullion dropped to 2,225.9 metric tons yesterday, the least since July 2011.
In a recap of the gold market on Monday, CME Group report said that market avoided a sharp downside extension on Monday after showing initial signs of vulnerability."Ongoing pressure from the Dollar seemed to abate slightly today as the US currency wasn't able to forge a fresh upside breakout, despite talk that the US Fed might be planning its QE exodus. In fact, gold prices could have come under significant pressure today in the wake of weekend talk about the unwinding of US easing measures. Ongoing long liquidation signs from the COT report and from gold derivative holdings would seem to leave the investment outlook for gold suspect. It also seemed as if the Indian government has continued to discourage investment in gold, as new rules have made it more difficult to finance gold bar transactions, unless the bars are being purchased by jewelry dealers and that in turn might make it more difficult for speculation in gold by Indian bullion dealers."
Sumber : Google
24 May 2013
Berita Semasa 24 Mei 2013 ...
China Gold imports to hit record levels in 2013
China consumed a total of 320.54 tons of gold in the first quarter, surging 25.6 percent year-on-year.
A day after China Gold Association announced sharp increase in gold consumption, the trade body sees record imports of the yellow metal this year.
A top official of the CGA said country's gold imports are likely to swell further after more than doubling to an all time high in March as retail consumers pounced when prices plunged to a two-year low last month.
Zhang Bingnan, secretary-general of the China Gold Association said physical demand picked up significantly over the last couple of weeks. Consumers and industrial users tend to see price drops as buying opportunities.
"Investment demand should continue to stay strong through the rest of the year because of limited investment alternatives," said Zhang, adding that gold sales and processing volumes both spiked in April.
April could see imports swell further after the drop in international prices spurred frenzied buying in Asia, leading to a shortage of gold bars and coins in Singapore as well as Hong Kong, which is China's main source for gold imports.
That will help bolster prices for the metal, which has been abandoned by funds in other parts of the world in the wake of its historic fall.
China consumed a total of 320.54 tons of gold in the first quarter, surging 25.6 percent year-on-year.
China is the world's second largest buyer after India, and in both countries the steep fall in international gold prices in April unleashed years of pent up demand for coins, bars and jewellery.
Appetite for gold from India and China is a major factor in international gold prices. The two countries account for more than a third of global demand, according to the World Gold Council. China produced 403 tonnes of gold in 2012, but consumption was more than double at 832.2 tonnes.
With China's economy still on shaky ground, investors there with limited options for their cash could still see gold as attractive. The fall has hurt big funds elsewhere that bet on gold continuing a 12 year bull run, eroding investor confidence in the yellow metal.
China's annual export growth may have picked up slightly in April due to a low comparison from a year ago, while import growth probably eased, a Reuters poll showed, suggesting the underlying momentum for both the domestic and global economies remains tepid.
Meanwhile, China's gold imports from Hong Kong more than doubled as of March, reaching an all-time high at 223,519 kilograms.
The March number is up from 97,106 kilograms in February, according to Hong Kong government data released Tuesday, showing an increasing demand for bullion on the Mainland.
Sumber : Google
23 May 2013
Berita Semasa 23 Mei 2013 ...
Vietnamese sees Gold as foreign currency
Gold, in fact, can essentially be considered a foreign currency here, because by nature Vietnam is a net gold importer.
Lack of inter connectivity for Vietnam's currency, the dong could be the reason for large price gap between global and domestic gold prices, SBV chief said.
According to State Bank of Vietnam governor Nguyen Van Binh, if the foreign exchange market is not interconnected, why should the gold market be interconnected.
The Vietnam dong has not been floated on the international foreign exchange market yet. As a result, the domestic and international foreign exchange markets are not interconnected, Binh said.
Gold, in fact, can essentially be considered a foreign currency here, because by nature Vietnam is a net gold importer.
Therefore, if the foreign exchange market is not interconnected, why should the gold market be interconnected, Binh asked.
People blame the central bank for letting the local gold price rise ever higher in comparison to its international counterpart, as they have misunderstood the central bank’s gold management policies, Minh said.
Stabilizing the gold market doesn’t necessarily mean that the price gap between the local and international price should be narrowed, he added.
The SBV’s decree No.24 on management of the local gold market set a target of stabilizing the market only, not stabilizing the gold price by closing down the gap.
Stabilizing the market here also means stabilizing the local gold price at a certain level, disregarding the world gold price trend.
That comes from monetary theory as well as the practical situation in Vietnam in the recent past.
Regarding the question of who will be the biggest beneficiaries from the gold management policy, Binh said they are the normal people, especially gold sellers, as they can sell at higher than the world price.
Previously, without the gold management decree, private firms, economic organizations importing gold for reselling or gold smugglers were the biggest beneficiaries, and they reaped profits from gold price fluctuations.
But now all gold trading activities undertaken by the state are meant to ensure that the entire difference between the domestic price and the world price of gold will be channeled into the state budget to reinvest in the economy and implement social welfare projects, Binh added.
Sumber : Google
22 May 2013
Berita Semasa 22 Mei 2013 ...
Ghana to fix mining tax on global Gold movements
Ghana's mining industry continues as the leading attractor of foreign direct investment in the country and has employed over 21,239 people
Africa's second largest gold producer Ghana said it will set mining taxes according to global gold prices.
Ghana's Ministry of Finance in response to the complaints of mining companies in Ghana over the increase in mining taxes, said it is prepared to reduce taxes on mining if world gold price falls.
The ministry added that if gold prices come down so low that companies don’t make any profit, the tax rate becomes irrelevant. They will pay no tax at all. And in addition we will allow them to carry forward the losses they’ve made against future profit continuously for five years. This is how government responds to the market.
In the 1990s when gold prices fell to about $400 -$500 per ounce, many companies did not pay tax. But now that the prices are more than $1500, and we believe cost of production hasn’t gone up that much that is why we have raised the corporate tax rate and we are trying even going to raise the windfall profit tax, ministry added.
However, some miners are not happy with the surprise announcement of increment in taxes and has called for more dialogue before taxes are increased.
Mining sector is the number one tax payer and highest contributor to the Ghana Revenue Authority’s (GRA) Domestic Collections and has contributed about Ghanian cedi 1.46 billion to the GRA representing 27.04% of Total Direct Taxes in 2012.
The mining sector has also paid 893.77 million Ghanian cedi in corporate tax representing 36.98% of the total company tax collected in 2012.
Analysts said Ghana's mining industry continues as the leading attractor of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country and has employed over 21,239 people directly of which 334 representing 2% are expatriates.
Sumber : Google
21 May 2013
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