South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan cut key loan rates Thursday, joining similar moves by the Federal Reserve and five other central banks Wednesday. The cost of borrowing in dollars overnight in London soared for a third day before Wednesday’s coordinated move.

Gold for immediate delivery slid US$18.40, or 2 percent, to US$889.22 an ounce as of 12:11 p.m. in London. The metal advanced 8.6 percent in the previous three trading sessions. Futures for December delivery dropped US$15.30, or 1.7 percent, to US$891.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

“The coordinated central bank effort seems to have failed to quell money market rates so cash is still king and may prompt further bouts of liquidation across commodities,” said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London. “But certainly across the quarter we’ll be up and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a challenge of US$1,000.”

Investment in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange- traded fund backed by bullion, climbed to a record 763.9 metric tons, equal to about four months of global production. The new total is within 1.3 tons of Japan’s reserves, the world’s seventh-largest gold holding.

The cost of borrowing gold dropped Wednesday. The 12-month lease rate fell to 2.42 percent from 2.48 percent the day before, which was the highest since May 2001. The rate is derived by subtracting the gold forward offered rate from the London Interbank Offered Rate.

Lease rates are fluctuating because of concern that central banks are reluctant to lend gold given the current market turmoil, according to UBS AG.

Among other precious metals for immediate delivery, platinum climbed US$18.50, or 1.9 percent, to US$1,021 an ounce in London. Silver dropped 5.5 cents, or 0.5 percent, to US$11.6849 an ounce. Palladium rallied US$2.50, or 1.3 percent, to US$201 an ounce.

Gold and platinum prices will gain on constrained supply, BlackRock Investment Management Managing Director Graham Birch said. The metals are becoming harder to mine because of a shortage of available deposits, a lack of power and political instability, Birch said Thursday at the Commodities Week conference in London.

Subscribe to The China Post and save.  Click hereSharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 800 characters max

Receive China Post promos

Respond to this email