INTL FCStone Looks For Gold To Stabilize Amid U.S. Political Fight
Tuesday October 1, 2013 3:41 PM
Gold fell Tuesday as sell stops were hit and amid ideas that fund liquidation was occurring, but the metal should stabilize in the next couple of weeks, especially if the political standoff continues over U.S. budget and debt matters continues, says Edward Meir, commodities consultant with INTL FCStone. As of 3:31 p.m. EDT, Comex December gold was down $35.70 to $1,291.30 an ounce. “Gold’s decline was somewhat surprising given that what should have been mildly bullish news, i.e., the shutdown of the U.S. federal government as of Monday midnight…,” Meir says. “The fact that prices sold off instead suggests that the sell-off was attributable to either massive sell stops being hit, or more likely, that one of the major funds…chose to liquidate its holdings.” More selling could occur in the immediate future, “but once this is out of the way, gold should stabilize going into the first half of October, especially if the impasse with regard to the government shutdown remains in place,” Meir says. “Even if this were resolved, there is the more worrying debate over the debt ceiling, the next political firefight that looms ahead. Given how bitter the political divisions are in Washington, we think this variable will likely offer gold a much greater degree of support than the government shutdown.”
By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com
HSBC: Mint Gold Coin Sales Pick Up In September, Down From Early In Year
Tuesday October 1, 2013 3:30 PM
U.S. Mint gold bullion coin sales rose month-on-month in September but nevertheless have slowed since the start of the year, says HSBC. The bank cites data on the Mint’s Web site showing that combined American Eagle and Buffalo gold coin sales increased by 7% in September to 23,000 ounces from 21,500 in August, but fell by 70% year-on-year from 77,000 reported in September of 2012. “Gold coin sales have softened in 3Q 2013 to average only 37,833oz per month after an average of 131,750oz per month for 1H 2013 and 73,750oz per month for 2012,” HSBC says. “Investor demand for gold coins is typically used as a barometer for retail demand. That said, retail demand has clearly slowed since the earlier part of this year, in our view.” American Eagle silver coin sales in September were 3,013,000 ounces, down from 3,625,000 in August and 3,255,000 in September 2012.
By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com
Technical Chart-Based Selling Weighs On Gold – Comex Broker
Tuesday October 1, 2013 3:00 PM
The trend in gold for the last month has been down, says a veteran Comex broker, and Tuesday’s price break for the Comex December future was a “technically perfect move to $1,283, and the natural place gold was heading to” before last week’s bounce. The broker says Tuesday’s trade was a "buy-the-rumor, sell-the-fact" type of trade, meaning that gold prices rallied on the possibility of a government shutdown and fell when the closure occurred. “The sell-off today, to me, was not one bit surprising. I believe $1,265-$1,283 is a potential area of congestion,” he says, adding that a break of this support level could push gold prices to the $1,146-$1,129 area.
By Debbie Carlson of Kitco News; dcarlson@kitco.com
U.S. ISM Beats Consensus, Points to Q4 Growth – CIBC
Tuesday October 1, 2013 9:38 AM
A strong reading in Tuesday’s U.S. ISM report could help boost expectations for better growth in the fourth quarter, says Avery Shenfeld, senior economist at CIBC World Markets Economics. Shenfeld notes that September’s reading of 56.2 was better than the economists’ expectations of 55.7. However, any growth could be “blunted" if the U.S. federal government partial shutdown lasts for an extended period, he adds. “Sept featured strong reading on most indicators, including employment, production and orders,” he says. “We’d like to see some of the ISM enthusiasm show up in actual orders data.”
By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com
Markets Will Pay More Attention to ADP Data as NonFarm Payrolls Report Postponed – TDS
Tuesday October 1, 2013 10:06 AM
Due to the government shutdown, analysts are expecting Friday’s employment report to be postponed with no new timeline issued. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ website, “During the shutdown period BLS will not collect data, issue reports, or respond to public inquiries. Updates to the site will start again when the federal government resumes operations. Revised schedules will be issued as they become available.” However, that doesn’t mean markets won’t receive any employment data; Gennadiy Goldberg, U.S. strategist for TD Securities, says Tuesday’s ISM report and Wednesday’s APD employment report will have a lot more significance. Goldberg adds that TDS is not expecting either report to have much impact on markets. “We expect Treasuries to continue trading in range with a mildly bullish bias until further clarity is obtained on the timeframe for resolving the government shutdown,” he says.
By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com
Partial Government Closure Won’t Last Beyond October – CIBC
Tuesday October 1, 2013 9:38 AM
Although the U.S. federal government is in a gridlock when it comes to passing budget legislation, Avery Shenfeld, senior economist at CIBC WM Economics, says the government is heading to a much bigger problem and must increase the debt ceiling before Oct. 17. “Failure to do so would require a much larger reduction in government outlays: running an immediate balanced budget would mean slashing outlays by more than $600 bn at annual rates, or roughly 4% of U.S. GDP, enough to cause a recession if it persisted,” he says. Because of the seriousness of the problems, Shenfeld adds he doesn’t expect the partial closure to last beyond October. “Even if Tea Party GOP Congressmen wanted to stand their ground, there would be pressure from business leaders, financial markets, the public (and even Senate Republicans) to put the battle off for another day,” he says. “Markets could still become more fretful if we actually cross the debt-ceiling deadline, but ultimately, any markets moves would be reversed as the crisis passed, provided that the deal to end the impasse does not entail any major surprises in terms of the degree of fiscal restraint imposed in this budget year.”
By Neils Christensen of Kitco News; nchristensen@kitco.com
INTL FCStone: Commodity Investors May Seek Sidelines During U.S. Shutdown
Tuesday October 1, 2013 9:23 AM
The partial shutdown of the U.S. government in a budget spat between Republicans and Democrats may send many commodity investors to the sidelines, says Edward Meir, commodities consultant with INTL FCStone. All of the base and precious metals were down at least 1% early Wednesday and crude oil was also softer. “It is hard to take any directional views on practically any of the markets right now, as the political uncertainties in Washington add a confusing overlay that could easily scuttle any type of short-term forecast,” Meir says. “Unfortunately, things will likely get worse before they get better -- besides the government shut-down, investors will soon focus on the debt-ceiling debate and yet another Fed meeting. All this makes the case for investors to move to the sidelines, which should rob the markets of any buying momentum, as we seem to be seeing right now.”
By Allen Sykora of Kitco News; asykora@kitco.com
Financial Market Weakness Due To US Government Shutdown So Far Limited To US Dollar Weakness – BBH
Tuesday October 1, 2013 8:51 AM
The U.S. dollar is weaker following the overnight news the Congress was unable to pass a continuing resolution to pass a budget, shutting down non-essential governmental functions. Brown Brothers Harriman says so far “the fallout seems limited to the foreign exchange market” since global equities are firmer and core bond markets are lower. BBH says the estimates of how much the shutdown will the cost range from 0.07% to 0.1% of gross domestic product per day, depending on how many workers are furloughed and for how long. So far investors are looking past the shutdown, BBH says, and the firm adds it believes the situation won’t last long. “There seems to be only one solution and the issue is how long it will take to force it. The only solution imaginable is for some part of the Republicans in the House of Representatives to stand with the Democrats rather than their own Tea Party faction. This is what happened in August 2011 and again this past New Year's Day,” they say.
By Debbie Carlson of Kitco News; dcarlson@kitco.com
No US Government Data Will Be Released During Shutdown; Affects Monthly Jobs Data – Nomura
Tuesday October 1, 2013 8:51 AM
While the U.S. government is shut down, no government data statistics will be released, says Nomura, even if the data were already prepared. This includes the key monthly nonfarm payrolls report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which was slated for release on Friday. “The employment report to be released this Friday will likely be delayed until after the shutdown is concluded,” they say.
By Debbie Carlson of Kitco News; dcarlson@kitco.com
India, China May See Higher Gold Trade – HSBC
Tuesday October 1, 2013 8:51 AM
Two important regions for gold purchases, India and China, could see demand grow in coming months, says HSBC. “India’s bullion imports looks set to pick up ahead of the festive gold buying season,” HSBC says. Citing a story from the Economic Times of India, the customs authority in Kolkata cleared consignments of imported gold after the Reserve Bank of India clarified its import/export scheme. “This is an encouraging sign for physical gold buyers in India ahead of the festive bullion-buying holiday Diwali, in early November, and the Indian wedding season,” the bank says. HSBC also notes that China may expand its list of companies that are allowed to import and export gold, according to the People’s Bank of China, citing a Bloomberg News story. “China is the world’s largest gold producer in 2012 and is forecast to be the world’s largest gold consumer this year, we believe,” HSBC says