May Gold News 2018

Italy’s 2-year treasury bonds rose to record levels yesterday, peaking at 2.8% yields having been negative only a week ago. The Euro dropped below $1.16 in response, while the price of gold climbed in step with the yield increases, peaking at £988 per ounce and falling back slightly to £977 – a price still £12 higher than the week before.

Vendors in one of Turkey’s largest commercial districts are reporting a rapid rise in the demand for gold coins ahead of the country’s snap election next month. President Erdogan surprised many with the announcement and, with the Turkish Lira steadily devaluing and inflation growing, people are turning to gold coins as a way of safeguarding their savings.

The Marshall Islands are nearing international approval to become the first country in the world to have a sovereign cryptocurrency – abandoning the US Dollar as their main currency in the process.

A 70-year border dispute between India and China could be about to reignite after Chinese gold mining in the Lhunze region, just north of the Indian border, intensified in the past few months.

There is already a substantial military presence in the region across the Himalayas and, thanks to China’s discovery of gold, silver, and other precious metals, this is only expected to increase.

The FTSE 100 stock market moved above 7,840 points on Monday for the first time in its history and continued to a peak of 7,877 on Tuesday as the Pound Sterling slumped to its lowest value against the US Dollar this year.

The World Gold Council has published its predictions for the gold industry for the next 30 years.
Titled ‘Gold 2048’, the report focuses on the key expectations from industry experts, such as the
growth of the middle classes in China and India, the advancement of technology to allow easier
investment into gold, and the restructuring of gold mining and production due to environmental
impact and the social expectations involved in operating with minimal damage caused.

Cryptocurrency start-up Circle has completed its latest round of investment sourcing, ahead of a summer launch. The digital currency is backed by investment bankers Goldman Sachs due to its operating principle – the tokens will be paired with US Dollars.

UK wages grew by 2.9% more in the first quarter of 2018 than the same time 2017, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The improved rate sees wages move ahead of inflation for the first time in 14 months, beating the 2.7% inflation rate in the UK.

The US Dollar’s surprise resurgence of late looks set to slam on the brakes after the latest economic figures released for April showed a slowdown of inflation. Figures show just a 0.1% rise in inflation – now up to 2.5% - which was a decline from the 0.2% growth experienced in March.

The Bank of England chose to maintain the current 0.5% interest rate last week after a slowing down of the UK’s economic growth, despite initial plans to raise them to 0.75% this month. The initial forecast from the Bank of England was 1.8% growth for the year, though this forecast has now been reduced to 1.4%.

Seven miners have died following a cave-in at a gold mine west of Johannesburg, South Africa caused by a nearby earthquake.

The magnitude 4.5 earthquake hit Soweto last Thursday, triggering the mine collapse and trapping 13 workers. 10 people were rescued but three were unreachable, and four of those workers pulled out succumbed to their injuries.

The national currency of Venezuela, the Bolivar, is worth so little due to hyperinflation in the South American country that virtual gold in the game ‘World of Warcraft’ is worth almost seven times as much.

The value of the Euro currency has dropped over 0.5% to $1.1828 this week – the weakest level since the end of December last year according to the Reuters news agency. Investors were caught out recently by the Dollar’s resurgence, having continued to bet on it falling further. The error led to a rush to compensate for losses, pushing the Greenback even higher.

Gold is up €13.80 per ounce as a result of the weaker Euro, in contrast to slight decreases in Dollars and Sterling.

President Trump has pulled the United States of America out of a nuclear accord with Iran, announcing his intention to reintroduce strict economic sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation and any foreign companies that continue to do business with Iran.

Following the decision, the price of Brent Crude rose sharply to $77 per barrel – a three and a half year high for the North Sea oil. The US Dollar is also at a year-to-date high, while the price of gold has fallen back fractionally from the rapid gains made in the last week.

The Bank of England is investigating ways of using user behaviour data, from the likes of Spotify and Netflix, as a way of gauging consumer confidence. The idea, raised by chief economist Andy Haldane, has been dubbed a useful tool to assess public spending and provide a “window on their soul”.

An employee at the Royal Canadian Mint has been fired after a stock check revealed $110,000 worth of gold was missing, in the form of two 1kg gold discs.

The inventory check revealed the missing gold last month, and the Mint subsequently dismissed the employee and called in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to officially investigate.