Rajendra Jadhav & Apeksha Nair: Gold discounts in India widened this week as a rebound in global prices prompted buyers to postpone purchases amid a severe cash crunch, while demand across Asia remained subdued.
Spot gold rose to its highest in over two weeks on Friday on a weaker dollar and was set to end 2016 more than 9% higher, marking its first annual gain in four years. For the week, gold is up about 2.5% and is poised to register its best weekly gain since early June. In India, the world's No. 2 consumer of the metal, dealers were offering a discount of up to $4 an ounce this week over official domestic prices that include a 10% import tax. They offered discounts of up to $2 last week.
Trivia Question: Up to the Medieval era of the Middle Ages, it was believed that there were only seven metals which are referred to as the Metals of Antiquity. What were they?
JP Morgan Gobbles Up a Minimum of Over 31 Tons (Possibly Up to 186 Tons) of Physical Gold.
Kitco News: Gold prices ended the U.S. day session solidly higher and hit a two-week high Thursday. A drop in the U.S. dollar index on this day prompted good short covering in the futures market and some bargain hunting in the cash market. If there is decent follow-through buying interest and a technically bullish weekly high close on Friday, such would be an early chart clue that the gold market has put in at least a near-term low, if not a major low.
ETF Investors, Hedge Funds Bail on Gold as Dollar, Equities Gain/Luzi-Ann Javier: SPDR Gold withdrawal reaches $2.27 billion, most since 2013. Money managers pare bullish bets to smallest since February. Investors just keep bailing on gold. In December, $2.27 billion was pulled out of SPDR Gold Shares, the world’s largest exchange-traded fund backed by the metal. That was a third straight monthly loss and the biggest since May 2013. Money managers have also turned less bullish on bullion, cutting their net-long positions for a seventh straight week to the smallest since February, U.S. government data showed Friday.
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