Commodities » Precious Metals

Gold and silver daily review (March 10, 2010)

Contributed by Nirmal Bang

By Nirmal Bang

MARKET ROUNDUP

Gold fell on Tuesday as a resurgent dollar amid lower risk appetite and sovereign debt worries dented investment interest in the metal.

IN FOCUS

- The world's largest gold-backed exchangetraded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings stood at 1,116.120 tonnes as of March 9, unchanged from the previous business day.

- The world's largest silver-backed exchangetraded fund, the iShares Silver Trust, said its holdings fell 61.03 tonnes from the previous business day to 9,351.40 tonnes as of March 9.

- Institutional investors looking for higher returns expect to raise their exposure to commodities this year, a Barclays Capital survey taken last week showed.

- The euro dropped against the dollar, still struggling in the face of debt concerns in peripheral euro zone countries such as Greece and Portugal.

- Gold and gold receivables held by euro zone central banks once again remained unchanged at 266.9 billion euros in the week ending March 5, the European Central Bank said on Tuesday.

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK

Gold steadied in thin trade on Wednesday after the euro bounced slightly against the U.S. dollar, but weaker oil prices could still induce selling. We expect Dollar to trade strenghten later in the day which is likely to weigh on precious meatls prices.