- Spot gold traded down 0.1% at $4,274.18 an ounce and was headed for a roughly 2.4% weekly loss, with US gold futures up 0.3% at $4,310.80.
- The decline marks a fourth weekly drop over the past stretch, driven by hawkish Federal Reserve policymaker signals, sticky inflation concerns, and rising US Treasury yields.
- Australian hedge fund manager Raphael Lamm, whose long-short gold fund has returned more than 200% net since its launch last year, calls the recent bullion decline temporary and says the forces behind its long-term rally remain intact.
- The Shanghai Gold Exchange has mandated that at least a dozen Chinese banks end retail leveraged precious-metals trading, pushing investors away from margin speculation on gold and silver contracts they do not physically own.
- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world's largest lender by assets, is among the banks withdrawing from retail leveraged metals trading, according to sources at two banks.
Quotes
“Australian hedge fund manager Raphael Lamm, whose long-short gold fund has delivered a net return of more than 200% to investors since its launch last year, sees the recent decline in bullion as temporary, arguing that the key forces underpinning its long-term rally remain intact.”
“Sources at two banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China – the world’s largest lender by assets – said that this round of withdrawals was mandated by the Shanghai Gold Exchange”