Gold modestly higher on bargain hunting

                Gold futures traded slightly higher in the early part of Wednesday’s Asian session as traders looked to be doing some bargain hunting with the yellow metal. 

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery inched up 0.11% to USD1,365.20 per troy ounce in Asian trading Wednesday. The December contract settled down 1.64% at USD1,363.70 per ounce on Tuesday. 

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,351.90 a troy ounce, the low from Aug. 20, and resistance at USD1,416.30, Tuesday's high. 

Gold’s safe-haven status plagued the yellow metal Tuesday, which proved to be another "risk on" with U.S. stocks again racing higher. Russia is offering to take control of Syria’s chemical weapons cache as a way of averting Western military offensive against the Middle East nation and that news ignited a rally in riskier assets. 

While the Obama administration has pressed its case for attack on the grounds Damascus used chemical weapons in its civil war, polls show most Americans do not favor attacking Syria, which further tarnished gold's appeal as a hedge to Syria-related uncertainty. 

Elsewhere, Indian gold imports plunged in August to a fraction of what the world’s largest gold consumer imported a year ago. India raised import tariffs on gold in an effort to stem a widening account deficit and plunging rupee that some market participants said could imperil the country’s already fragile investment-grade credit rating.   -investing.com

India imported three metric tons of gold in the past month, compared with 35 tons a year earlier, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Meanwhile, Comex silver for December delivery rose 0.29% to USD23.083 per ounce while copper for December delivery added 0.25% to USD3.274 an ounce.

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Crude oil lower as U.S. jobs report lingers

                     Crude oil futures traded lower in the early part of Friday’s Asian session ahead of what some traders view as a critical U.S. non-farm payrolls report for August. 

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for October delivery fell 0.15% to USD108.21 per barrel on Asian trading Friday. The October contract settled higher by 1.06% at USD108.37 per barrel on Thursday. 

Better-than-expected economic indicators out of the manufacturing and labor markets bolstered demand for oil as well. 

In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the ADP National Employment Report showed the addition of 176,000 private sector jobs last month, but that missed the estimate calling for the addition of 180,000 new jobs. The July number was revised down to 198,000 from 200,000. 

The Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 9,000 last week to 323,000. The less volatile four-week moving average fell 3,000 to 328,500, the lowest reading since October 2007. The Labor Department releases the August jobs report Friday before the open of U.S. markets. 

The Institute for Supply Management said its August services purchasing managers index rose to 58.6% last month from 56.0% in July. That is good for the best reading since the index was created in 2008. Economists expected an August reading of 55%. The U.S. is the world’s largest oil consumer. 

Meanwhile, the Energy Information Administration reported that oil inventories fell by 1.84 million barrels to 360.2 million last week, more than market calls for a decline of 1.26 million barrels. That report was published a day later than usual because U.S. markets were closed for a public holiday Monday. 

Elsewhere, Brent for October delivery fell 0.17% to USD115.08 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange. - investing.com

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Gold lower after strong U.S. data points

                     Gold futures traded lower in the early part of Friday’s Asian session as traders in the region digested some strong U.S. economic data points that could give the Federal Reserve room to imminently begin tapering its quantitative easing program. 

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery fell 0.28% to USD1,368.80 per troy ounce in Asian trading Friday. The October contract settled lower by 1.22% at USD1,372.60 per ounce on Thursday. 

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,351.90 a troy ounce, the low from Aug. 20, and resistance at USD1,416.30, Tuesday's high. 

In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the ADP National Employment Report showed the addition of 176,000 private sector jobs last month, but that missed the estimate calling for the addition of 180,000 new jobs. The July number was revised down to 198,000 from 200,000. 

The Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 9,000 last week to 323,000. The less volatile four-week moving average fell 3,000 to 328,500, the lowest reading since October 2007. The Labor Department releases the August jobs report Friday before the open of U.S. markets. 

The Institute for Supply Management said its August services purchasing managers index rose to 58.6% last month from 56.0% in July. That is good for the best reading since the index was created in 2008. Economists expected an August reading of 55%. 

Those data points, particularly the ADP report and jobless claims could be a precursor to a strong August non-farm payroll report. Should the August jobs number surprise to the upside, many traders believe it is a foregone conclusion the Fed will begin tapering its asset-buying program before the end of September. 

Elsewhere, Comex silver for December delivery fell 0.15% to USD23.220 per ounce while copper for December delivery inched down 0.03% to USD3.245. - investing.com

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Crude oil rises after API data shows supply decrease

  

                Crude oil futures traded higher in the early part of Thursday’s Asian session after data from the American Petroleum Institute showed U.S. oil inventories declined last week. 

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for October delivery rose 0..18% to USD107.42 per barrel in Asian trading Thursday. The October contract settled lower by 1.21% at USD107.23 per barrel on Wednesday. 

Earlier Thursday, the American Petroleum Institute said U.S. oil inventories declined fell by 4.2 million barrels for the week ended Aug. 30. Analysts expected a decline of 2.5 million barrels. 

API also said gasoline stockpiles declined by 387,000 barrels while distillate supplies fell 109,000 barrels. Analysts expected a 1 million-barrel drop in gasoline inventories and an increase of 800,000 barrels for distillates. 

The API data comes a day before the more widely followed Energy Information Administration report. Both reports were delayed by one day this week because U.S. markets were closed Monday in observance of the Labor Day holiday. 

Oil fell Wednesday as traders seemed to believe a U.S. military strike against Syria is not as imminent as previously believed. 

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report released during Wednesday’s U.S. session showed a moderate and improving pace of economic growth across all 12 Fed regions. 

In other U.S. economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the U.S. trade deficit widened more than expected in July, hitting USD39.1 billion from a downwardly revised USD34.5 billion deficit in June, mainly due to improving imports. 

Elsewhere, Brent crude futures for October delivery were flat at USD115.02 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange. - investing.com

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Gold recoups some of Wednesday’s losses

                   Gold futures traded higher in the early part of Thursday’s Asian session as traders appeared to be buying a dip caused by a Wednesday sell-off in bullion. 

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery rose 0.22% to USD1,392.70 per troy ounce in Asian trading Thursday. The October contract settled down 1.57% at USD1,389.60 per ounce on Wednesday. 

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,374.10 a troy ounce, the low from Sept. 1, and resistance at USD1,416.30, Tuesday's high. 

Waning fears over an imminent military strike against Syria coupled pressured gold because the yellow metal’s safe-haven status has been embraced during the current batch of Middle East geopolitical strife. 

As U.S. President Barack Obama worked to gain already growing bipartisan support in Congress to strike Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier he might support any U.N. Security Council resolution calling for military strikes provided that body was presented with conclusive proof that the Syrian government employed chemical weapons. 

Gold also came under pressure as the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report released during Wednesday’s U.S. session showed a moderate and improving pace of economic growth across all 12 Fed regions. 

In other U.S. economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the U.S. trade deficit widened more than expected in July, hitting USD39.1 billion from a downwardly revised USD34.5 billion deficit in June, mainly due to improving imports. 

Gold traders will now focus on a spate of central bank meetings Thursday, including meetings by the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank. 

Elsewhere, Comex silver for December delivery rose 0.44% to USD23.520 per ounce while copper for December delivery added 0.08% to USD3.250 per ounce. - investing.com

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Gold Trades Above $1,400 as Investors Weigh Fed Against Syria

     

         Gold traded little changed above $1,400 an ounce after rising the most in a week, as investors weighed the prospects for reduced stimulus in the U.S. against the threat of a military attack against Syria.

Spot gold traded at $1,412.97 an ounce at 11:49 a.m. in Singapore from $1,412.42 yesterday, when prices climbed 1.5 percent, the most since Aug. 23. Gold capped the first back-to-back monthly gain in a year in August as turmoil in the Middle East fanned haven demand.

Bullion fell 16 percent this year on speculation the Federal Reserve will taper stimulus that helped the metal gain for a 12th year in 2012. The U.S. central bank will start to reduce its $85 billion in monthly asset purchases, a program known as quantitative easing, at a meeting on Sept. 17-18, according to 65 percent of economists in a survey last month.

“Tension around Syria will be the near-term driver of gold prices,” said Lv Jie, an analyst at Cinda Futures Co., a unit of one of four funds in China created to buy bad debt from banks. “Recent U.S. economic data reflects a recovery, which should increase expectations for tapering of QE.”

The Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index rose to a seven-week high after reports yesterday showed manufacturing in the U.S. climbed in August to the strongest since June 2011. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor backed PresidentBarack Obama’s call for a military strike against Syria.

Gold for December delivery traded at $1,412.80 an ounce on the Comex in New York from $1,412 yesterday, when futures gained 1.1 percent, the most since Aug. 27.

Silver fell 0.5 percent to $24.149 an ounce. Platinum and palladium were little changed at $1,535.65 an ounce and $718.25 an ounce.

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Crude Oil falls in Asia after U.S. data boost

         

              Oil futures traded lower in the early part of Wednesday’s Asian session as traders in the region opt to overlook some encouraging U.S. economic data to focus more on what the next move might be concerning Syria. 

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for October delivery fell 0.14% to USD108.39 per barrel in Asian trading Wednesday. The October contract settled 0.83% at USD108.54 per barrel on Tuesday. 

After touching USD110 per barrel last week on fears a Western coalition military strike against was imminent, some of the "Syria premium" has come out of crude futures. 

Congressional Republicans said they would support President Barack Obama's calls for military strikes against Syria. 

Key Republican lawmakers including House Speaker John Boehner said earlier Tuesday they'd support a presidential call for U.S. military attacks on Syria via limited air or missile strikes. 

Last week, the U.K. parliament voted against joining the U.S. in coalition strike against Syria, indicating that if the U.S. does pursue a military option, it might have to do so alone. 

Lingering Syria-related tensions prompted traders to focus more on geopolitical news than some encouraging U.S. economic data. 

In U.S. economic news out Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management said its August manufacturing index climbed to 55.7% from 55.4% in July, good for the highest reading since June 2011. Economists expected a reading of 54.1%. The new orders index soared to 63.2% from 58.3%, but the production index fell to 62.4% from 65%. 

Some analysts believe that once the Syria situation settles down, traders will focus more on improving global economic data and that could send crude to USD112 per barrel or beyond. 

Elsewhere, Brent for October delivery was flat at USD115.71 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.

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Gold down slightly on profit-taking

                        Gold futures traded slightly lower in the early part of Wednesday’s Asian session as traders in the region locked in profits in the yellow metal following a strong showing by bullion on Tuesday. 

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery inched down 0.01% to USD1,411.05 per troy ounce in Asian trading Wednesday. The October contract settled higher by 1.14% at USD1,411.70 per ounce on Tuesday. 

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,374.10 a troy ounce, the low from Sept. 1, and resistance at USD1,433.50, the high from Aug. 28.

Traders boosted gold Tuesday as they searched for safe-have plays after congressional Republicans said they would support President Barack Obama's calls for military strikes against Syria. 

Key Republican lawmakers including House Speaker John Boehner said earlier Tuesday they'd support a presidential call for U.S. military attacks on Syria via limited air or missile strikes. 

Last week, the U.K. parliament voted against joining the U.S. in coalition strike against Syria, indicating that if the U.S. does pursue a military option, it might have to do so alone. 

Lingering Syria-related tensions prompted traders to focus more on geopolitical news than some encouraging U.S. economic data. 

In U.S. economic news out Tuesday, the Institute for Supply Management said its August manufacturing index climbed to 55.7% from 55.4% in July, good for the highest reading since June 2011. Economists expected a reading of 54.1%. The new orders index soared to 63.2% from 58.3%, but the production index fell to 62.4% from 65%. 

Elsewhere, Comex silver for December delivery fell 0.13% to USD24.398 per ounce while copper for December delivery dropped 0.27% to USD3.305 per ounce.

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PRECIOUS-Gold heads for 2nd monthly rise; but Syria, stimulus concerns linger

                            Gold held steady on Friday as the probability of an immediate U.S. strike on Syria faded, and strong U.S. data rekindled fears of an imminent scale-back of the Federal Reserve's stimulus measures. The metal is headed for its second straight monthly gain, helped largely by short-covering and technical buying that pushed it above the key $1,400 level this week. At its 3-1/2 month high of $1,433.31 hit on Wednesday, gold had gained 21 percent from the three-year low of $1,180.71 marked on June 28, but it is now struggling to hold at those levels amid a slowdown in physical demand and strong economic data. "Looks like the market is running out of steam at these levels," said one Singapore-based gold trader. "If it cannot hold above $1,400 today, it will surely see a sharp drop." "We have seen quite a sharp slowdown in physical buying." Spot gold had risen 0.1 percent to $1,409.66 an ounce U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the April-June period, more than double the pace clocked in the prior three months. The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week, a potential sign of faster hiring in August. Strong U.S. data bolsters the case for the tapering of the Fed's massive stimulus that pushed gold to above $1,900 an ounce in 2011. U.S. officials conceded on Thursday they lacked conclusive evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad personally ordered last week's poison gas attack, and some allies have warned that military action without U.N. Security Council authorization risks making the situation worse. As geopolitical tensions in Syria mounted, gold's safehaven appeal had increased.

PHYSICAL SLOWDOWN Gold prices above $1,400 for the first time in more than two months have deterred buyers who had splurged on jewellery, bars and coins earlier this year. In Hong Kong - the key gold supplier to China - gold kilo bar premiums declined to $2.50 an ounce from $5 two weeks ago. Tokyo premiums fell to 50 cents from $1.50, while those in Singapore dropped to $1.50. Dealers said there has been a lot of selling in the physical markets in Asia as consumers look to profit from the higher prices.

Precious metals prices 0407 GMT

Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1409.66 2.02 +0.14 -15.82 Spot Silver 23.90 0.07 +0.29 -21.07 Spot Platinum 1514.74 1.04 +0.07 -1.32 Spot Palladium 735.50 1.52 +0.21 6.29 COMEX GOLD DEC3 1409.90 -3.00 -0.21 -15.87 11665 COMEX SILVER SEP3 23.92 -0.17 -0.71 -21.07 159 Euro/Dollar 1.3240 Dollar/Yen 98.18

COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

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Natural gas prices drop on bearish U.S. inventory figures

                   Natural gas prices dropped on Thursday after official U.S. data revealed that the country's stockpiles rose more than expected last week.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in October traded at USD3.515 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading, down 1.87%. The October contract settled up 0.25% at USD3.582 per million British thermal units on Wednesday.

The commodity hit a session low of USD3.511 and a high of USD3.648.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 23 rose by 67 billion cubic feet, above market expectations for an increase of 63 billion cubic feet.

Inventories increased by 64 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a build of 66 billion cubic feet.

Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 3.130 trillion cubic feet as of last week. Stocks were 235 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 45 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 3.085 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.

The report showed that in the East Region, stocks were 107 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, following net injections of 49 billion cubic feet. 

Stocks in the Producing Region were 95 billion cubic feet above the five-year average of 978 billion cubic feet after a net injection of 16 billion cubic feet.

Also pressuring prices lower were updated weather forecasts calling for below-normal temperatures in parts of the heavily populated northeastern U.S.

Demand for natural gas tends to wane at the country's thermal power plants as temperatures fall, as homes and businesses throttle back on their air conditioners.

Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in October were down 0.88% and trading at USD109.13 a barrel, while heating oil for October delivery were down 0.38% and trading at USD3.1993 per gallon.

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