Gold Parity On September

Gold sank to a 2012 low on Wednesday before paring losses in choppy trade, as traders were torn between hope that France and Germany would work together to keep the Euro zone intact and new signs of stress in the Greek banking sector. Bullion briefly crossed into bear market territory, down 20 percent from its record last September, as intensifying fears a Greek exit from the euro zone would worsen the debt crisis gripped financial markets earlier in the day. Prices later recouped most of their losses following a meeting between new French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at which they pledged to forge a joint approach for an EU summit next month. That eased concerns of a spat that could worsen the euro zone crisis. During the U.S. session, gold prices ...

Gold edged higher on Friday as buyers slowly returned to the market, lured by Wednesday's plunge of 5 percent, although bullion is still looking at its worst week since December. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's lack of a reference to further quantitative easing at congressional testimony on Wednesday sparked a heavy sell-off in bullion, sending the metal to a one-month low short of $1,700. Gold's fall to the lower end of its previous range showed the lack of conviction required to push prices above $1,800 or higher, but analysts and traders saw Wednesday's plunge as a healthy correction rather than the end of the bull run. "The broader macro backdrop remains gold-favorable, given the negative interest rate environment, longer-term inflationary concerns and lingering ...

(Reuters) - Gold edged higher on Friday as buyers slowly returned to the market, lured by Wednesday's plunge of 5 percent, although bullion is still looking at its worst week since December. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's lack of a reference to further quantitative easing at congressional testimony on Wednesday sparked a heavy sell-off in bullion, sending the metal to a one-month low short of $1,700. Gold's fall to the lower end of its previous range showed the lack of conviction required to push prices above $1,800 or higher, but analysts and traders saw Wednesday's plunge as a healthy correction rather than the end of the bull run. "The broader macro backdrop remains gold-favorable, given the negative interest rate environment, longer-term inflationary concerns and ...

(Reuters) - Gold steadied on Wednesday after rising to its strongest in more than two weeks as concerns about Greece's ability to implement an unpopular bailout deal balanced gains triggered by the actual agreement. Spot gold rose to $1,759.84 an ounce in early trade, its highest since February 3, before steadying at $1,757.80 by 0716 GMT. Slower factory activity in China also helped erase some of the early gains. U.S. gold bounced from lows and added $1.20 to $1,759.70 an ounce. Cash gold staged its biggest one-day rise in two weeks on Tuesday, climbing 1.5 percent along with riskier assets after euro zone finance ministers gave the greenlight to a 130-billion-euro bailout for Greece. The euphoria faded quickly, however, as worries about implementation resurfaced, and data pointing to ...

Weekly Economic and Financial Commentary : 02/12/2011 U.S. Review Moderate Improvement in Economic Data The November employment report showed a big drop in the unemployment rate. However, the overall pace of job growth remains constrained. Housing market data this week indicated that new home sales rose modestly in October, while home prices continued their downward trajectory. The latest read on manufacturing sentiment from the ISM-manufacturing survey indicated that output continued to expand at a moderate pace despite the ongoing European debt crisis. Data Supports Stronger Growth in Q4 This week's data continued to reinforce our view for stronger fourth-quarter economic growth. The housing market data showed sales and new home construction have bottomed, while the ISM- ...

The Weekly Bottom Line : 21/10/2011 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK United States European leaders are meeting in Brussels this weekend to try and come up with a plan to restore market confidence and secure the future of the common currency. But those hoping for a grand bargain are likely to be disappointed. The real challenge is deeper than European policymakers have publicly acknowledged: how do you restore confidence in a union of countries that, with few exceptions, are highly indebted and relatively uncompetitive? A successful solution must involve the reform of European institutions themselves, as well as an understanding among member states over the responsibilities they hold to themselves and to each other. The U.S. financial system, and the broader economy, will remain at ...

EUR/USD The EUR/USD retreated on Thursday as the market started to lock on profits amid generally eased woes over the outlook for the euro area where investors returned to focus on the weak data and the fragile state of the global economy. Investors remain upbeat on the prospect for a resolution to the debt crisis and see leaders walking in the right path, especially after EC President Jose Barroso presented a broad plan to contain the crisis including economic governance, bank recapitalization, utilization of the EFSF, and helping Greece contain its crisis. The market though remain tensed as the plans to recapitalize banks is still not clear and with the end of the week on Friday the eyes will turn to the G20 finance chiefs meeting as they will surely discuss the development in Europe ...

(Reuters) - In early August, Philipp Hildebrand pulled out of an expedition to mark the bicentennial of the first ascent of the Jungfrau, one of the highest mountains in the Alps. As the bosses of some of Switzerland's leading companies climbed through hail to the summit, the country's top central banker took on the markets. He slashed interest rates to zero and flooded the banking system with cash, in what was to be another futile attempt to bring the Swiss franc down from recent peaks. Hildebrand has often cut a lone figure since taking over as head of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) at the start of 2010. The franc has been chased skyward by frightened investors seeking a haven in the euro crisis, gaining almost 40 percent against the euro since 2008 -- and Hildebrand has been criticized ...

American investors returned from their Labor Day holiday to face another laborious trading day on Wall Street. As your California editor pecks away at his keyboard this afternoon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down more than 200 points to within spitting distance of 11,000. For the first three trading days of September 2011, the Dow has tumbled more than 600 points — or about 5% — the worst three-day start for the month of September in the history of the US stock market. (Thanks to CNBC for this utterly meaningless statistic). As it happens, the Dow is also down about 5% for the year-to-date, and down about 5% from its record high of October 2007. “Down 5” is not exactly the new “up,” but it feels like it. Over in the Old World, the best-performing stock market in the European ...