China is poised to overtake India to become the world’s biggest gold market this year as rising incomes fuel demand for the precious metal and a weak rupee diminishes Indian purchases, an industry group said Thursday.
The amount of gold bought in China rose 20 percent in 2011 over the year before to 770 metric tons, the World Gold Council said in its annual report. That put China behind only first-place India, where 933 metric tons were bought………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Gold traders are getting more bullish after billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson told investors it’s time to buy the metal as protection against inflation caused by government spending.
Twelve of 22 surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to gain next week and five were neutral. Paulson & Co. is already the biggest investor in the SPDR Gold Trust, the largest exchange- traded product backed by bullion, with a stake valued at $2.9 billion, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Feb. 14 showed………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Global gold demand rose marginally last year although high prices drove the consumption value to an all-time-high of $205.5 billion as investors, worried about the fragile recovery of the debt-trapped European economy, sought refuge in the haven appeal of the precious metal and central banks scaled up purchases by around five fold.
The demand rose 0.04% to 4,067.1 tonne in 2011, although a 28% rise in gold prices pushed up the consumption value, data by the World Gold Council showed Thursday. Investment demand gained 5% to 1,640.7 tonne while jewellery demand fell 3%, mainly due to lower purchases by top consumer India………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Global gold demand topped the $200-billion mark for the first time ever in 2011, with demand increasing to 4 067 t, the World Gold Council (WGC) reported on Thursday. This was also the highest tonnage level since 1997.
The WGC said that the main driver for this increase was the investment sector, where yearly demand reached 1 640 t during the year, up 5% from the previous record set in 2010, and valued at around $82.9-billion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

An escalation of tensions between the United States and Iran over the Asian nation’s nuclear ambitions is likely to result in a short-term increase in gold prices. This was indicated by Ajay Mitra, managing director (Middle East & India) of World Gold Council (WGC), on Thursday.
Gold prices in India are now hovering around Rs 28,500 per 10 gram. “Geopolitical uncertainty generally pushes up crude, gold and other commodity prices. Therefore, there may be a short burst in gold prices due to the ongoing tensions in Iran. But that will not continue for long,” Mitra said while releasing the gold demand trend report for 2011………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Over the last two days investors have been given more reminders that gold mining is a tough business and that many things can go wrong.
Four of Canada’s largest gold miners reported fourth-quarter earnings, and the results were all over the map. One (Goldcorp Inc.) was excellent, one (Barrick Gold Corp.) trailed expectations, and two (Kinross Gold Corp. and Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd.) were marred by massive writedowns……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Impala Platinum , the world’s second-largest producer of the precious metal, expects platinum to trade at between $1,450 to $1,800 ounce this year, the company’s marketing executive Derek Engelbrecht said on Thursday.
The spot platinum price was at $1,608.49 an ounce by 1002 GMT………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Copper prices were influenced by Chinese demand and many investors used to look at Chinese import figures and domestic demand to predict future trends in copper. But recent data suggest that copper trends may have finally divorced from Chinese demand, a Citigroup report states.
Copper prices have rallied since the beginning of 2012 and the trend seems to be largely unrelated to Chinese demand. Copper inventories in China is rising, premiums for the physical metal is softening and traders have been absent from the market since December. In spite of such negative Chinese indications, prices have risen since January this year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

OPEC will raise shipments by 0.7 percent this month as Libya continues to restore production that was halted during last year’s uprising, according to tanker- tracker Oil Movements.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will export 23.38 million barrels a day in the four weeks to March 3, up from the 23.21 million barrels in the period to Feb. 4, the Halifax, England-based researcher said today in an e-mailed report. The figures exclude Angola and Ecuador………………………………………..Full Article: Source

“2012 promises to bring a host of new regulatory requirements and issues” for investment professionals who deal with commodity ETFs. The statement, contained in a legal alert from the law firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, is hardly surprising, given the level of scrutiny even before the worst coordinated global financial crisis the world has ever seen, but it’s sure to worry advisors everywhere that are registered with Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The firm has helpfully put together five areas of concern for “members of the commodity ETF industry” in 2012………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Multi Commodity Exchange Ltd (MCX), India’s biggest commodity exchange by turnover, has set a price band of 860 to 1,032 rupees a share for its initial public offering that aims raise as much as 6.6 billion rupees ($134 million).
The first Indian IPO this year would be a key test of investor appetite for share sales in Asia’s third-largest economy after weak markets forced many companies to shelve stock offerings last year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The NYSE Liffe, Europe’s largest agricultural commodity exchange, is seeking to limit the position a market participant can hold at the point of delivery of the contract.
The move is part of a proposed regime for monitoring London’s commodity contracts at a time when the global industry is under political pressure to regulate markets………………………………………..Full Article: Source

CME Group’s (CME) electronic oil trading platform, among the fastest in the world, crashed on Monday afternoon after being flooded by a surge of some 12,000 price quotes in the span of four minutes.
The platform remained down for more than an hour, forcing trading into the open outcry pits on the floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange, an increasingly rare scene these days thanks to the steady rise of electronic trading in recent years………………………………………..Full Article: Source

CME Group Inc. has made a bid for the London Metal Exchange as the world’s largest metals futures market plans a meeting next week to consider offers, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
The price CME Group offered wasn’t disclosed, said the person, who declined to be identified because negotiations are private. A purchase of the LME by Chicago-based CME Group would add to its metals that trade through the Comex, where futures based on gold, silver and copper are traded………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Investors are finally starting to turn against the yen in the options market. For the first time in nearly a decade, hedge funds and other traders appear to be buying more options that profit if the yen weakens against the dollar, as opposed to bets that pay off when the yen strengthens.
To a growing number of investors, the yen is losing its appeal as a safe harbor from global economic turmoil. They say Japan’s slump, and the increasingly drastic steps the country’s central bank is taking to pull the economy out, are becoming too big a drag on the yen at a time when other economies are gathering steam………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Canada’s dollar climbed from a February low as risk appetite swelled on data showing improvement in the U.S. economy and bets Greece will receive a rescue package to avoid a default.
The currency erased losses after jobless-benefit claims in the U.S., Canada’s biggest trade partner, unexpectedly slid to a four-year low. It strengthened as stocks and commodities advanced. Three euro-area officials said the European Central Bank is swapping its Greek bonds for new ones, paving the way for a private-sector swap that cuts Greece’s debt………………………………………..Full Article: Source

South Korea’s long-awaited carbon trading legislation has again been delayed, after a key parliamentary vote scheduled for today was put back.
According to Reuters’ reports, the bill is yet to go in front of a legal panel that is required ahead of the final parliamentary vote, despite the fact a multi-party committee approved the controversial legislation last week………………………………………..Full Article: Source