Gold: an overview of the market situation

Gold prices declined moderately today, departing from the six-week high, which was associated with the strengthening of the dollar to one-week high against the euro and the physical signs of reduced demand.

Market participants are also expected to release the Chinese manufacturing PMI from HSBC for September, which will tell about the health of the economy. On Tuesday, the government data showed that on an annualized basis, China's economy grew in the third quarter by 7.3%, compared with growth of 7.5% in the previous quarter. While the figure exceeded market expectations of growth of 7.2%, it still was a minimum in the first quarter of 2009.

Experts point out that the relatively high price of gold reflects the uncertainty in the health of the global economy. Since the beginning of October, the gold has risen in price by more than 3 percent after a 6 percent drop in September. In the coming days, the market may decline as demand for gold in India and China reduced

"Gold and other metals were slightly oversold, and $ 1,200 - a sustained level of support. This month increased purchases in China, supported the gold, "- said Standard Bank analyst Yuichi Ikemidzu.

The course of trade was also affected by today's inflation data for the United States. As it became known, consumer prices rose slightly in September - this is the last sign of restrained inflationary pressures on the United States amid fears of a global slowdown. The consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in September compared with the previous month, the Labour Department said. With the exception of volatile categories (food and energy) prices also rose by 0.1%. Economists had forecast the continued importance of the overall consumer price increase of 0.2% so-called core prices. Compared with a year earlier, consumer prices and prices excluding food and energy rose 1.7% each. Overall prices fell 0.2% in August.

The cost of the December gold futures on the COMEX today dropped to 1244.70 dollars per ounce.