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(Best Syndication News) Gold prices fell drastically on Wednesday while the Federal Reserve Chairman spoke to Congress (see the futures and forex charts below). Ben Bernanke’s chat with the Committee on Financial Services coincided with the release of the Beige Book. Neither implied that another round of easing was on the way.
The U.S. Department of Commerce released their GDP numbers via the Bureau of Economic Analysis Wednesday. In their second estimate of the fourth quarter GDP, the Commerce Department said that GDP grew at 3.0 percent. This was better than economist expectations and the first estimate of 2.8 percent.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank released their Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) calculations. The Fed branch said that their index rose to 64 in February. That was above analyst expectations of just 59 or 60 and up from the previous measure of 60.2 in January.
Lack of quantitative easing (QE3) by the Federal Reserve pushed gold prices down $77 in one day (see the survey #2 chart below). Since the settle, gold is up 50 cents to $1711.80 a troy ounce.
The central bank chairman said that unemployment dropped quicker than expected. Low unemployment, one of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) mandates, could signal that no further action is needed by the Fed. Some Fed Presidents are uncertain whether the FOMC will continue to hold rates at historic low levels through much of 2014 as planned.
Some analysts believe silver to be even more speculative than gold. COMEX silver dropped even faster than gold Wednesday, down 6.89 percent in one day. Since the session close, silver gained three cents to $34.68.
Platinum, palladium and copper were all lower.
Metal prices were lower on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM). Gold fell 153 yen (-3.30%) to ¥4,479 per gram. Silver dropped 6.3 percent during the night session. See the TOCOM chart below for our exclusive dollar conversions.
Crude oil was a bright spot for investors Wednesday.
Brent crude oil on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) gained $1.11. Light Sweet crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) added 52 cents. April WTI gained another 18 cents to $107.25 after the session close.
NYMEX natural gas was higher, but heating oil prices were lower.
The U.S. dollar (USD) gained against all major currencies with the exception of the Canadian dollar (CAD). The Japanese yen (JPY) declined against all major currencies (see the cross tables below).
The greenback gained against most currencies (see the average dollar rate chart below). The USD gained 0.64 percent vs the Australian dollar (AUD), 0.73 percent vs the euro (EUR), 0.70 percent vs the JPY and 0.74 percent vs the Swiss franc (CHF). The dollar did slip vs the British pound sterling (GBP).
The USD began to slide later vs the JPY (see the intraday chart below). The USDJPY hit 81.04, the EURUSD hit 1.3326, the GBPUSD hit 1.5946, the CADUSD hit 0.98654, the USDHKD hit 7.7559, and the AUDUSD hit 1.0775.
By: Tom Madison
Business Reporter
TOCOM Chart with our exclusive dollar conversions:
| 2/29/2012 | Tokyo Commodities Exchange | One-Day | One-Day | Five-Day | 30-Day | 100-Day | |
| Yen * | Commodity | Dollars | ¥ Change | % Change | % Change | % Change | % Change |
| 4,479 | Gold (standard) | $1,716.55 | -153 | -3.30% | -2.99% | 9.27% | 10.78% |
| 89.3 | Silver | $33.92 | -6 | -6.30% | -1.98% | 19.07% | 21.00% |
| 4,435 | Platinum (standard) | $1,699.68 | -64 | -1.42% | -0.43% | 17.80% | 19.90% |
| 1,837 | Palladium | $704.02 | -28 | -1.50% | -0.49% | 11.88% | 29.28% |
| 72,910 | Gasoline | $3.40 | 270 | 0.37% | -1.62% | 11.62% | 23.93% |
| 59,260 | Crude oil | $116.10 | 90 | 0.15% | -0.80% | 14.49% | 28.83% |
| 339.5 | Rubber | $1.90 | 2 | 0.68% | -0.12% | 14.70% | 12.05% |
| 50.16 | Ratio Gold/Silver | 1.55 | 6 | 3.19% | -1.03% | -8.23% | -8.44% |
| * ¥ / gram kiloliter and kilogram PST - conversions to $ / ounce barrel or gallon | |||||||
Survey #2 Settle Price Chart:
| Wednesday | Survey # 2 (BSNCOM2) | One-Day | One-Day | 1 Week | 30-Day | 100-Day |
| 2/29/2012 | Energy and Metal Settle | $ Change | % Change | % Change | % Change | % Change |
| 2341.00 | Aluminum 3-mo LME | -7.50 | -0.32% | 3.95% | 5.93% | 8.18% |
| 122.66 | Brent crude (not settled) | 1.11 | 0.91% | -0.20% | 9.98% | 19.40% |
| 60.67 | Coal | -0.41 | -0.67% | 0.50% | -1.62% | -17.00% |
| 3.88 | Copper HG | -0.04 | -1.07% | 1.20% | 3.38% | 24.90% |
| 107.07 | Crude oil (WTI) | 0.52 | 0.49% | 0.74% | 6.44% | 34.38% |
| 2.26 | Ethanol ZE CBOT | 0.00 | -0.13% | 2.68% | 7.01% | -10.32% |
| 1711.30 | Gold GC | -77.10 | -4.31% | -3.39% | 3.10% | 4.25% |
| 3.21 | Heating Oil (HO) | -0.01 | -0.44% | -2.03% | 6.39% | 60.30% |
| 2.62 | Natural gas NG HH | 0.10 | 3.85% | -1.02% | 5.83% | -26.72% |
| 706.65 | Palladium PA | -13.10 | -1.82% | -1.55% | 5.79% | 24.04% |
| 1692.60 | Platinum PL | -30.90 | -1.79% | -1.64% | 11.11% | 14.52% |
| 3.26 | RB RBOB Gasoline | 0.03 | 1.01% | 5.49% | 15.28% | 26.78% |
| 34.64 | Silver SI | -2.56 | -6.89% | 1.13% | 13.42% | 14.13% |
| 693.00 | Steel Hot-Roll Coil | 0.00 | 0.00% | -4.81% | -5.46% | 4.21% |
| 52.00 | UxC Uranium U3O8 | 0.00 | 0.00% | -0.29% | -0.95% | -0.10% |
| 2/29/2012 | Averages and Ratios | Change | One-Day | 1 Week | 30-Day | 100-Day |
| 371.1 | Average All | -8.74 | -2.30% | -2.50% | 4.86% | 10.41% |
| 700.2 | Metals Average | -20.62 | -2.86% | -2.30% | 6.68% | 11.29% |
| 43.1 | Energy Average | 0.19 | 0.44% | 0.33% | 6.17% | 13.36% |
| 49.4 | Ratio Gold/Silver Prices | 1.33 | 2.77% | -4.47% | -9.10% | -8.66% |
| -18.7 | Difference Plat-Gold | 46.20 | -71.19% | -62.97% | -86.31% | -88.57% |
| 1.01 | Ratio Plat/Gold | -0.03 | -2.56% | -1.78% | -7.22% | -8.97% |
| 1.1 | Ratio Brent / WTI Prices | 0.00 | 0.42% | -0.93% | 3.32% | -11.14% |
| $15.59 | Difference Brent - CL | 0.59 | 3.93% | -6.20% | 42.50% | -32.36% |
Average Dollar Rates:
| Wednesday | Average Surveys 1 - 3 | % Change Day | % Change Wk | % Ch 30-Day | Ch 100-Day |
| 2/29/2012 | Average 1US$ = Currency | Pos=$US Gain | Pos=$US Gain | Pos=$US Gain | Pos=$US Gain |
| 0.9288 | Average Against Aussie | 0.64% | -0.38% | -3.57% | -7.93% |
| 0.7497 | Average Against Euro € | 0.73% | 0.59% | -3.64% | 1.73% |
| 81.1342 | Average Against Yen ¥ | 0.70% | 0.71% | 5.63% | 6.05% |
| 0.6275 | Average Against Pound £ | -0.02% | -0.86% | -3.17% | -1.80% |
| 0.9036 | Average Against Franc | 0.74% | 0.63% | -3.84% | -0.95% |
| 0.9883 | Average Against Canadian | -0.19% | -0.93% | -2.23% | -4.02% |
| Average 1Currency = US$ | Pos=$US Loss | Pos=$US Loss | Pos=$US Loss | Pos=$US Loss | |
| 1.0767 | Average Against Aussie | -0.64% | 0.38% | 3.70% | 8.61% |
| 1.3340 | Average Against Euro | -0.73% | -0.59% | 3.78% | -1.70% |
| 0.0123 | Average Against Yen | -0.70% | -0.70% | -5.33% | -5.71% |
| 1.5937 | Average Against Pound | 0.02% | 0.87% | 3.28% | 1.83% |
| 1.1066 | Average Against Franc | -0.74% | -0.63% | 3.99% | 0.96% |
| 1.0119 | Average Against Canadian | 0.19% | 0.94% | 2.28% | 4.19% |
Intraday Chart:
| Green = $ UP | Intra-Day Trend | Green = $ UP | |||
| Red = $ Down | 2/29/2012 | Survey 5A | Survey 5B | Survey 5C | Red = $ Down |
| From Previous | Time PT | 12:00 AM | 6:00PM | 9:30PM | Intra-Day |
| 0.71% | USD/JPY | 81.16 | 81.26 | 81.04 | -0.15% |
| -0.91% | EUR/USD | 1.3339 | 1.3329 | 1.3326 | -0.10% |
| -0.10% | GBP/USD | 1.5922 | 1.5923 | 1.5946 | 0.15% |
| -0.34% | CAD/USD | 0.9886 | 0.989 | 0.9864 | -0.22% |
| 0.02% | USD/HKD | 7.7561 | 7.7559 | 7.7559 | 0.00% |
| -0.48% | AUD/USD | 1.0765 | 1.0733 | 1.0775 | 0.09% |
| 0.00% | USD/CNY | 6.2935 | 6.2935 | 6.3002 | 0.11% |
Cross Tables:
| Survey 1 | February 29 2012 6:00 PM | |||||||
| 1 HKD | 1 AUD | 1 CAD | 1 CHF | 1 GBP | 1 JPY | 1 EUR | 1 USD | |
| USD $ | 0.1289 | 1.0772 | 1.0131 | 1.1073 | 1.5934 | 0.0123 | 1.3348 | - |
| EUR € | 0.0966 | 0.807 | 0.759 | 0.8296 | 1.1938 | 0.0092 | - | 0.7492 |
| JPY ¥ | 10.4576 | 87.3642 | 82.1659 | 89.8093 | 129.236 | - | 108.257 | 81.1068 |
| GBP £ | 0.0809 | 0.676 | 0.6358 | 0.6949 | - | 0.0077 | 0.8377 | 0.6276 |
| CHF franc | 0.1164 | 0.9728 | 0.9149 | - | 1.439 | 0.0111 | 1.2054 | 0.9031 |
| CAD | 0.1273 | 1.0633 | - | 1.093 | 1.5729 | 0.0122 | 1.3175 | 0.9871 |
| AUD | 0.1197 | - | 0.9405 | 1.028 | 1.4793 | 0.0114 | 1.2391 | 0.9284 |
| HKD | 8.3542 | 7.8571 | 8.588 | 12.3581 | 0.0956 | 10.3521 | 7.7558 | |
One-Day Change:
| Pos Means Top Currency Gained | One Day Change | February 29 2012 6:00 PM | ||||||
| Survey 1 | 1 HKD | 1 AUD | 1 CAD | 1 CHF | 1 GBP | 1 JPY | 1 EUR | 1 USD |
| USD | -0.078% | -0.581% | 0.317% | -0.673% | 0.025% | -0.806% | -0.655% | |
| EUR € | 0.625% | 0.074% | 0.985% | -0.012% | 0.692% | 0.000% | 0.658% | |
| JPY ¥ | 0.688% | 0.116% | 1.018% | 0.023% | 0.730% | 0.041% | 0.702% | |
| GBP £ | -0.123% | -0.617% | 0.284% | -0.700% | -1.282% | -0.676% | -0.032% | |
| CHF | 0.605% | 0.093% | 0.993% | 0.707% | 0.000% | 0.017% | 0.680% | |
| CAD | -0.313% | -0.886% | -0.987% | -0.285% | -0.813% | -0.970% | -0.313% | |
| AUD $ | 0.588% | 0.901% | -0.087% | 0.612% | -0.870% | -0.081% | 0.585% | |
| HKD | -0.567% | 0.328% | -0.660% | 0.042% | -0.727% | -0.642% | 0.014% | |
30-Day Change:
| Pos Means Top Currency Gained | 30- Day Change | February 29 2012 6:00 PM | ||||||
| Survey 1 | 1 HKD | 1 AUD | 1 CAD | 1 CHF | 1 GBP | 1 JPY | 1 EUR | 1 USD |
| USD | 0.08% | 3.77% | 2.41% | 4.06% | 3.25% | -5.38% | 3.84% | |
| EUR | -3.59% | -0.07% | -1.38% | 0.22% | -0.57% | -8.91% | -3.70% | |
| JPY | 5.77% | 9.64% | 8.20% | 9.95% | 9.10% | 9.72% | 5.66% | |
| GBP | -3.11% | 0.49% | -0.81% | 0.78% | -8.33% | 0.58% | -3.15% | |
| CHF | -3.80% | -0.29% | -1.59% | -0.78% | -9.02% | -0.22% | -3.91% | |
| CAD | -2.23% | 1.32% | 1.62% | 0.83% | -7.58% | 1.40% | -2.35% | |
| AUD | -3.55% | -1.31% | 0.29% | -0.49% | -8.80% | 0.07% | -3.62% | |
| HKD | 3.66% | 2.30% | 3.95% | 3.15% | -5.44% | 3.73% | -0.10% | |
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