Gold fluctuates near 3-month high with Fed stimulus in focus

           Gold prices fluctuated between small gains and losses in rangebound trade on Wednesday, as comments made by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Tuesday continued to support the precious metal.

Gold prices last traded at USD1,289.30 an ounce during U.S. morning hours, down 0.05%.On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery held in a range between USD1,284.10 a troy ounce and USD1,292.30 an ounce.

Gold futures rallied to USD1,294.40 an ounce on Tuesday, the most since November 8, before trimming gains to settle at USD1,289.80, up 1.18%.

Prices were likely to find support at USD1,264.70 a troy ounce, the low from February 10 and resistance at USD1,313.30, the high from November 8.

Meanwhile, silver for March delivery inched up 0.25% to trade at USD20.20 a troy ounce. The March contract settled 0.2% higher on Tuesday to end at USD20.15 an ounce.

In her first congressional testimony on Tuesday, Fed Chair Yellen said that the central bank would taper the pace of its asset purchases at future meetings if the economy continued to improve as expected.

She added that the pace of the central bank’s bond purchases are not on a “preset course”, while reiterating that Fed plans to hold interest rates at zero “well past” the time the jobless rate falls below 6.5%.

The testimony is coming amid fresh concerns over the outlook for the recovery, following the weakest two-month stretch of U.S. job creation in three years in December and January.

The Fed tapered its monthly asset purchase program by another USD10 billion to USD65 billion a month at its last policy meeting.

Elsewhere on the Comex, copper futures for March delivery rose 0.85% to trade at USD3.243 a pound.

Data released earlier showed that China’s trade surplus widened to USD31.86 billion last month from a surplus of USD25.6 billion in December, compared to estimates for a surplus of USD23.65 billion.

Chinese exports climbed 10.6% from a year earlier, beating expectations for a 2% increase and following a 4.3% gain in December. Imports rose 10%, compared to forecasts for a 3% increase.

According to the data, the Asian nation imported a record-high 536,000 tons of anode, refined copper, alloy and semi-finished copper products in January, up 21% from December.

China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year. - investing.com

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Silver futures fluctuate in rangebound trade

    Silver prices swung between small gains and losses in rangebound trade on Wednesday, as traders reassessed their expectations for how quickly the Federal Reserve will roll back its stimulus program.

Silver prices last traded at USD20.18 a troy ounce during European morning hours, up 0.15%. The March contract settled 0.2% higher on Tuesday to end at USD20.15 an ounce.On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, silver for March delivery held in a range between USD20.08 a troy ounce and USD20.22 an ounce.

Silver futures were likely to find support at USD19.75 a troy ounce, the low from February 7 and resistance at USD20.27, the high from February 10.

Meanwhile, gold futures for April delivery shed 0.2% to trade at USD1,287.40 a troy ounce. Gold futures rallied to USD1,294.40 an ounce on Tuesday, the most since November 8, before trimming gains to settle at USD1,289.80, up 1.18%.

Prices were likely to find support at USD1,264.70 a troy ounce, the low from February 10 and resistance at USD1,313.30, the high from November 8.

In her first congressional testimony on Tuesday, Fed Chair Yellen said that the central bank would taper the pace of its asset purchases at future meetings if the economy continued to improve as expected.

She added that the pace of the central bank’s bond purchases are not on a “preset course”, while reiterating that Fed plans to hold interest rates at zero “well past” the time the jobless rate falls below 6.5%.

The testimony is coming amid fresh concerns over the outlook for the recovery, following the weakest two-month stretch of U.S. job creation in three years in December and January.

The Fed tapered its monthly asset purchase program by another USD10 billion to USD65 billion a month at its last policy meeting.

Elsewhere on the Comex, copper futures for March delivery jumped 1.05% to trade at USD3.249 a pound.

Data released earlier showed that China’s trade surplus widened to USD31.86 billion last month from a surplus of USD25.6 billion in December, compared to estimates for a surplus of USD23.65 billion.

Chinese exports climbed 10.6% from a year earlier, beating expectations for a 2% increase and following a 4.3% gain in December. Imports rose 10%, compared to forecasts for a 3% increase.

The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year. - investing.com

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UPDATE 1-Aluminium maker Norsk Hydro Q4 beats forecast, offers dividend

Underlying operating profit NOK 483 mln vs fcast 310 mln

Offers dividend of NOK 0.75 per share, as expected

Says market remains uncertain but is more upbeat on 2014

OSLO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Norsk Hydro, one of the world's largest producers of aluminium, reported core earnings well above forecasts on Wednesday due to cost cuts and offered a dividend for 2013 in line with expectations.

The price of aluminium - used in the aerospace, construction and automotive sectors - has nearly halved since 2008 due to a massive global surplus of the metal, forcing loss-making firms to slash capacity and make savings.

Norsk Hydro was no exception and had to make several rounds of cost savings throughout its divisions.

"Extensive improvement programmes backed our results for 2013, despite market uncertainty and low aluminium prices," Chief Executive Svein Richard Brandtzaeg said in a statement.

"Although the uncertainty remains, we are entering 2014 on a positive note, as we expect demand for aluminium to slightly exceed production this year, in the world outside China."

Hydro reiterated that it saw world demand outside China growing by 2-4 percent in 2014.

Underlying operating profit rose to 483 million crowns ($79.02 million) for the fourth quarter from 138 million a year ago, beating expectations for 310 million in a Reuters poll.

Norsk Hydro fared better than some of its peers. The United States' biggest producer, Alcoa, reported a big loss for the fourth quarter due to falling aluminium prices earlier this year.

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Glencore lifts copper and coal output

      MINING and trading group Glencore Xstrata yesterday beat analysts' forecasts with a 26 per cent rise in annual copper output, boosted by strong growth at its African and Chilean mines.

Output of both copper and coal, the two biggest earners for Glencore's industrial side, rose in the year to the end of December, offsetting a decline in nickel, lead and zinc.

The company, which of the diversified miners has the biggest exposure to copper, said its ownsourced copper production rose by more than a quarter to 1.5m tonnes in 2013, passing analysts' expectations for a rise of 16 to 25 per cent.

The division, which accounts for about 30 per cent of the company's profits, benefited from strong growth at its Congolese mines and at Collahuasi in Chile , a joint venture with rival Anglo American inherited with the acquisition of Xstrata last year.

"Copper is central to our bullish stance on Glencore Xstrata given our positive view on the future price development of the commodity and the strong prospects for Glencore to grow production," Bernstein research analysts said in a note. - Kitco

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