-- Posted Friday, 9 April 2010 | Digg This Article | | Source: GoldSeek.com

London Gold Market Report

THE PRICE OF GOLD for Dollar investors touched its highest level in 3 weeks at $1158 an ounce early in London on Friday, rising together with stocks and commodities and setting its fifth record high vs. the Euro in five days.

"Gold looks like a buy given that it has broken through the $1150 topside resistance level," says one bullion-bank's technical analysis, "with $1161 the next major hurdle."

Silver Prices "struggled" on Thursday, the note adds, but continued the 8-day pattern of setting higher intraday lows.

"Gold has firmly established its ground above $1133, the neckline of a reverse head and shoulders," says another dealer, citing "an ideal target of $1240."

A reversal pattern marked by three troughs – the middle trough being lower than the others – gold's "inverse head and shoulders" against the Dollar began after the record spike to $1227 in early Dec..

On the monetary front for Dollar investors, Federal Reserve vice-chairman Donald Kohn repeated last night how US rates will remain near zero for an "extended period" because jobs growth is "extremely weak".

Gold priced in Euros meantime made it 5-out-of-5 for new record highs this week, breaking above €865 an ounce even as the single currency bounced on the forex market.

No Greek bail-out has been requested, Athens' finance minister George Papaconstantinou told reporters today.

"Greece does not intend to make use of the mechanism [agreed by Eurozone leaders last month], but it is very important for our country for this safety net to exist," he said.

"We think an intervention over the weekend is a distinct possibility," countered Swiss bank UBS's economics team in a note.

"We are getting down to two options – an IMF package of financial support or organized debt restructuring," said Investec fund manager John Stopford to the BBC.

It's "increasingly likely" that Athens will be bailed out by the end of May, reckons Nomura strategist Alistair Newton.

"Serious sovereign risk to some Eurozone countries is finally offering support to gold prices," noted Andrey Kryuchenkov at London's VTB Capital to Bloomberg earlier.

"Still, once risk aversion recedes, gold is likely to correct lower. We will be paying much more attention to the actual physical side and consumer demand for gold jewelry as we go forward."

Data from mining-backed marketing group the World Gold Council shows that gold investment accounted for 37.5% of global demand last year, up from 31.1% in 2008.

Investment demand accounted for less than 10% of global gold off-take in 2001.

Back in Friday's markets, European equities reversed Thursday's losses, while commodities rose across the board.

US Treasury bonds ticked lower, pushing 10-year yields above 3.90%. They hit a 10-month record of 4.00% late last week.

British gilts rose, meantime, even as the British Pound jumped on news that factory-gate prices jumped last month.

Rising at their fastest pace since the crude-oil spike of mid-2008, manufacturing input prices added almost 14% from March 2009 – flatly contradicting the Bank of England's decision to hold interest rates last week at a record low of 0.5%.

Sterling jumped to a 6-week high vs. the Dollar at $1.5380, knocking the gold price for UK investors some £5 per ounce below yesterday's near-record highs at £758.

The Bank of England next meets to set UK rates on Mon 10 May – four days after the general election.

Adrian Ash

Formerly City correspondent for The Daily Reckoning in London and head of editorial at the UK's leading financial advisory for private investors, Adrian Ash is the editor of Gold News and head of research at BullionVault – winner of the Queen's Award for Enterprise Innovation, 2009 – where you can buy gold today vaulted in Zurich on $3 spreads and 0.8% dealing fees.

(c) BullionVault 2010

Please Note: This article is to inform your thinking, not lead it. Only you can decide the best place for your money, and any decision you make will put your money at risk. Information or data included here may have already been overtaken by events – and must be verified elsewhere – should you choose to act on it.

-- Posted Friday, 9 April 2010 | Digg This Article | Source: GoldSeek.com

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