-- Posted Monday, 22 April 2013 | | Disqus

STATS

London Gold AM Fix $1,425.00, +$11.00 LME Copper Stocks 613,075 tons +1,275 tons.

Gold Stocks 8.918 million ounces -32,497, Silver Stocks 166.258 million ounces +903,344

Chinese shares were mixed overnight, with Shanghai shares weaker in the wake of the damaging earthquake, while Hong Kong shares forged a minimal gain. European stock indices were sharply higher off hope for an ECB rate cut and also because of declines in Spanish and Italian debt yields that in turn could suggest that anxiety toward European sovereign debt has declined somewhat. The US market was showing some positive action early on today but the market will be looking ahead to existing home sales figures later this morning, as well as to a host of US corporate earnings for some guidance on the direction of the US economy. Expectations for the existing home sales report call for a minimal rise today.

GOLD

June gold is showing some impressive gains to start and in the process the gold market has reached back up to the highest level since the big washout day of April 15th. In addition to classic technical short covering buying off a series of key points that were breached on the charts, gold was probably garnering some lift off hope for an upcoming ECB rate cut. Apparently Indian buyers continued to snap up gold but there were some reports of price sensitivity with gold at times overnight, reaching as much as $106 an ounce above last week's lows. Gold apparently discounted news of rising revenues from a Russian gold miner overnight perhaps because the focus of the trade today appears to be primarily centered on the demand side of the equation. Some traders want to see investment begin to flow back into gold derivative instruments, before rendering the April washout complete. In the short term, positive equity market action and talk of central bank easing has effectively put the deflationary vibe on the back burner. The Commitments of Traders Futures and Options report as of April 16th for Gold showed Non-Commercial traders were net long 106,077 contracts, a decrease of 6,474 contracts. The Commercial traders were net short 122,651 contracts, a decrease of 14,613 contracts. The Non-reportable traders were net long 16,573 contracts, a decrease of 8,140 contracts. Non-Commercial and Non-reportable combined traders held a net long position of 122,650 contracts. This represents a decrease of 14,614 contracts in the net long position held by these traders. Comex Gold Stocks were 8.918 million ounces down 32,497 ounces. Comex Gold Stocks are at the lowest levels since 07/21/2009. Stocks have declined 13 of the last 20 days.

SILVER

While silver is trading higher to start today, the May silver contract hasn't been able to forge a fresh upside breakout as was seen in the gold market overnight. However, a partial risk-on vibe does appear to be in place today and that seems to have lifted a host of physical commodity markets like silver. Therefore the silver trade will be watching to see if silver and gold will continue to rally in the face of positive economic news and rising equity markets. Like gold, silver is probably drafting a large measure of its lift from ideas that the ECB will cut rates, after the prompting of the G20 over the weekend. The Commitments of Traders Futures and Options report as of April 16th for Silver showed Non-Commercial traders were net long 16,165 contracts, an increase of 9,100 contracts. The Commercial traders were net short 21,652 contracts, an increase of 4,276 contracts. The Non-reportable traders were net long 5,487 contracts, a decrease of 4,823 contracts. Non-Commercial and Non-reportable combined traders held a net long position of 21,652 contracts. This represents an increase of 4,277 contracts in the net long position held by these traders. Comex Silver Stocks were 166.258 million ounces up 903,344 ounces. Comex Silver Stocks are at the highest levels since 07/15/1997. Stocks have increased in 12 of the last 20 days.

PLATINUM

Like silver, platinum prices are showing some gains on the charts but prices haven't forged a definitive range up move yet. Platinum did see some favorable weekend press coverage, which suggested the downtrend in platinum was probably temporary, but seeing platinum prices lag behind gold prices, in the early going today, would seem to suggest that platinum has remained somewhat off balance. The Commitments of Traders Futures and Options report as of April 16th for Platinum showed Non-Commercial traders were net long 28,052 contracts, a decrease of 5,479 contracts. The Commercial traders were net short 30,209 contracts, a decrease of 7,009 contracts. The Non-reportable traders were net long 2,157 contracts, a decrease of 1,530 contracts. Non-Commercial and Non-reportable combined traders held a net long position of 30,209 contracts. This represents a decrease of 7,009 contracts in the net long position held by these traders. Critical support today is pegged at $1,424.60 and it could take a rise back above $1,450 in the July platinum contract to put the bull camp back in definitive control.

COPPER

The copper market early this morning hasn't been able to claw its way back into positive ground despite sharp gains in precious metals prices and sharp gains in many equity markets. Even more surprising is the lack of technical short covering action in copper in the wake of news that the "combined" spec and fund Net Short position in copper hit a new record level in last week's positioning reports. The Commitments of Traders Futures and Options report as of April 16th for Copper showed Non-Commercial traders were net short 23,408 contracts, a decrease of 3,936 contracts. The Commercial traders were net long 29,588 contracts, an increase of 859 contracts. The Non-reportable traders were net short 6,180 contracts, an increase of 4,794 contracts. Non-Commercial and Non-reportable combined traders held a net short position of 29,588 contracts. This represents an increase of 858 contracts in the net short position held by these traders. Reports of a decline in Chinese copper imports in March probably undermined the Shanghai copper market overnight and that negative demand tilt appears to be keeping a lid on US copper prices. Some traders are also suggesting that the earthquake in China might have undermined copper prices last night, but eventually one might expect quake news in China to be seen as a positive from the demand angle. It would also seem like brokerage firm views toward copper over the weekend have generally remained negative and that could be another reason why copper prices have been unable to join other physical commodity markets on the upside.

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-- Posted Monday, 22 April 2013 | Digg This Article | Source: GoldSeek.com

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