Mid-Day Gold & Silver Market Report – 10/11/2012

GOLD REBOUNDING AFTER SPAIN’S DOWNGRADE

Gold has rebounded today despite concerns over a downgrade of Spain’s creditworthiness. The euro has stabilized after Standard & Poor’s downgraded Spain’s credit rating to BBB-, just a step away from a "speculative" rating. "We have been seeing a bit of demand coming out of the woodwork. It's nothing huge, but it was better than it has been previously and, since Monday, flows of Gold scrap have been very, very low," MKS Finance head of trading Afshin Nabavi said. "Overall, it feels as though we may have found a base for Gold at the moment and now we have to try the higher end of the range at $1,775/80."

American consumer confidence maintained a three month high last week despite growing pessimisms about the economy. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index fell to a minus 38.5, higher than the minus 40 associated with recessions. "Consumer sentiment appears to have stabilized, albeit at historically low levels," said Joseph Brusuelas, a senior economist at Bloomberg LP in New York. A drop in gasoline prices since mid-September "likely boosted household perceptions of the buying climate despite clear signs of discontent over the direction of the economy," he added.

The latest offer to striking South African Gold miners has been rejected. It was hoped that the offer would end the strike and violence that has resulted in several deaths and serious injuries. "This was a final offer from the companies. They said take it or leave it," Lesiba Seshoka, spokesman for the National Union of Mineworkers said. "Now that it has been rejected our options have been exhausted." Africa’s top two producers have been hard hit by the strike, losing several thousand ounces of Gold production per week.

At 1 p.m. (EDT), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1770.50, Up $5.90.
• Silver, $34.15, Up $0.04.
• Platinum, $1,685.20, Up $9.70.
• Palladium, $652.60, Up $1.80.

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