Fed voorziet goud van brandstof.......
Intro:
Gold futures extended strong gains to hit the highest level in 16-weeks during early European hours on Thursday, after Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s August meeting indicated that the central bank may be close to implementing a third round of easing measures.
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On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,666.15 a troy ounce during European morning trade, surging 1.7%.
Earlier in the day, prices rose by as much as 1.75% to hit a session high of USD1,667.05 a troy ounce, the highest since May 1.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,610.25 a troy ounce, the low from August 20 and near-term resistance at USD1,672.15, the high from May 1.
Gold prices soared Wednesday after minutes from the Fed’s most recent policy meeting showed members favored further stimulus, including a third round of bound buying known as quantitative easing.
According to minutes from the July 31-August 1 meeting, "Many members judged that additional monetary accommodation would likely be warranted fairly soon unless incoming information pointed to a substantial and sustainable strengthening in the pace of the economic recovery."
The greenback came under broad selling pressure, with the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the U.S. dollar against a basket of six other major currencies, fell 0.3% to trade at 81.33, the lowest since May 22.
Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would pump more money into the financial system.
Gold gained as much as 15% earlier this year to hit USD1,790 an ounce after the Fed said in January it would keep interest rates near zero until at least late 2014 and indicated that it could introduce a fresh round of asset-purchases.
However, prices have lost almost 7% since late February, as the Fed failed to deliver more easing and amid concerns over the euro zone’s deepening debt crisis, which has fueled demand for the precious metal's hedge, the greenback.
Prices found further support after disappointing Chinese manufacturing data released earlier added to hopes policymakers in Beijing will introduce fresh stimulus measures to boost growth in the world’s second largest economy.
Data released earlier in the day showed that China’s HSBC Flash Purchasing Managers Index fell to a nine-month low of 47.8 in August from a final reading of 49.3 in July, as new orders slumped in the face of weakening global demand.
Expectations of monetary stimulus tend to benefit gold, as the metal is seen as a safe store of value and inflation hedge.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery rallied 3.1% to trade at USD30.46 a troy ounce, the highest since May 3, while copper for September delivery jumped 1.3% to trade at USD3.499 a pound.
