GOLD (Au) PRODUCERS

[NYBob]

PRECIOUS-Gold up nearly 2 pct on China trade data, dollar fall

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/08/markets-precious-idUSL1N0G91HY20130808
Thu Aug 8, 2013 3:54pm EDT

* China's import, export data raise economic hopes
* Dollar index falls for fifth straight session
* Pent-up demand seen in gold on uncertain Fed tapering
* Coming up: U.S. wholesale inventory Friday

(Adds broker comment, Hecla news, updates market activities)
By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) -

Gold surged nearly 2 percent to $1,310 an ounce on Thursday as
surprisingly strong rebounds in China's exports and imports sparked
economic optimism, lifting bullion's inflation-hedge appeal.

Silver and platinum group metals also rallied after data
showed Chinese imports of industrial commodities and raw
materials rose in July and the world's No. 2 economy showed
signs of stabilizing after more than two years of slow growth.

"It looks like things in China are moving into the right
direction, so that means deflationary forces are brushed aside
and inflationary forces are more popular now," said Axel Merk,
portfolio manager of Merk Funds, which has $500 million in
currency mutual-fund assets.

Gold prices also benefited from the U.S. dollar's drop for a
fifth straight session against a basket of currencies.

Traders said pent-up buying underpinned gold as recent
inconclusive economic data and comments from Federal Reserve
policymakers raised doubts about when the U.S. central bank will
begin reducing stimulus.

Spot gold rose 1.8 percent to $1,310.41 an ounce by
3:32 p.m. EDT (1932 GMT). It hit a session high of $1,313.95,
about $1 above resistance at its 50-day moving average.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery settled up
$24.60 an ounce to $1,309.90, with trading volume about 30
percent below its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data
showed.

Bullion had traded as low as $1,180 an ounce in late June on
heavy fund selling as the Fed looked set to cut its bond-buying
stimulus as early as September.

Copper and industrial metals rallied as the upbeat Chinese
trade data sparked demand hopes, further affirming gold's status
as a hedge against inflation.
"As long as we continue to see those improved numbers coming
out of China, it's going to drive up consumption of
commodities," said Tom Power, senior commodities broker at
futures brokerage R.J. O'Brien.
Hecla Mining Co said it has started to hedge its gold
and silver shipments after a drastic fall in spot prices pushed
the No. 2 U.S. silver producer to report a surprise loss.

Hedging mining output allows producers to lock in guaranteed
prices but it can backfire if the price of spot metal rises
above the hedged price.

As a gauge of investor interest, the world's biggest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund SPDR Gold Trust, said its
holdings fell by another 4.5 tonnes on Wednesday, bringing its
total outflow for the week to 8.1 tonnes.

Among other precious metals, silver was up 3.6
percent at $20.27 an ounce. Platinum rose 3.6 percent to
$1,487 an ounce, while palladium gained 2.1 percent to
$735.75 an ounce.

3:32 PM EDT LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL
US Gold DEC 1309.90 24.60 1.9 1282.00 1313.80 132,369
US Silver SEP 20.193 0.685 3.5 19.455 20.310 52,927
US Plat OCT 1491.60 53.30 3.7 1435.70 1498.60 15,412
US Pall SEP 738.55 15.40 2.1 723.10 744.90 6,113

Gold 1310.60 23.46 1.8 1283.63 1313.95
Silver 20.270 0.710 3.6 19.550 20.330
Platinum 1487.00 51.29 3.6 1437.75 1489.75
Palladium 735.75 14.78 2.1 725.71 741.97

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG
US Gold 142,562 215,508 187,958 21.98 -1.46
US Silver 61,460 49,749 54,497 27.4 -0.95
US Platinum 15,745 10,866 12,466 20.47 0.00
US Palladium 8,018 3,803 5,324


(Editing by Dale Hudson, Lisa Von Ahn and David Gregorio)

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=90825085
God Bless