Gold: an overview of the market situation

Gold prices fell today, which was due to the strengthening of the dollar, and investors' expectations of the Fed meeting, which is scheduled for this week. Add that many market participants are looking for clues regarding minimizing the Fed's economic stimulus program, known as quantitative easing (QE). It should be noted that any weakening of the bond-buying program, which raises the prospect of a future tightening of course, is seen as a negative factor for gold.

Recall that the market sentiment changed markedly, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said last month that the Fed may roll their stimulus measures, while other Fed officials have since presented conflicting signals. Most economists expect the Fed can reduce the size of the purchase of bonds by the end of the year, and a smaller part of the decision is expected in September.

We add that a further decline in gold prices today prevented some purchases in China, which is the second-largest gold consumer after India. However, demand in Asia is far from the peak levels seen after the mid-April during sales of gold. In addition, we note that Indian gold purchases fell, after earlier this month the government introduced import duty, trying to narrow the current account deficit by reducing imports of gold.

In addition, the data presented today showed that gold mining in Australia, which is number two after China, fell by 5% in the first quarter, reaching a level of 63.5 tons.

The cost of the August gold futures on COMEX today dropped to 1383.00 dollars per ounce.