TOCOM Gold
Prices of TOCOM gold futures took it on the chin last week as global gold prices fell significantly early last week. Gold futures and gold exchange traded funds (ETF) were strongly sold by investors and traders after numerous analysts downgraded their price targets for gold over the past few weeks, minutes from last month’s U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting revealed comments that monetary policy could tighten later this year and there were concerns in the market that European central banks could sell gold in order to raise funds to cover deficits after Cypress looks to do just that. Last Monday the U.S. dollar spot price of gold fell by the largest amount on record in dollar terms. In Tokyo last Monday, TOCOM’s most actively traded forward contract fell by over 8% and finished the week down 9.8%. The forward contract rallied on Friday due to a weaker yen and a higher U.S. dollar spot price and closed last Friday’s day trading session at 4510 yen per gram after falling as low as 4132 yen last Tuesday. The U.S. dollar spot price fell to a two year low last week of $1321.25 per ounce before recovering to around the $1400 mark late in the week. It was reported that holdings by the world’s largest gold ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust, dropped to 3-year lows. After the big drop in global gold prices there were reports of strong physical buying by retail customers in many countries including China where the China Gold Association reported that retail gold sales tripled in China on April 15th and 16th. There were also reports of shortages of gold bars in Hong Kong and Singapore and premiums paid by customers over the spot price in Singapore hit 18-month highs. There was also increased demand for gold bars and coins at Tokyo gold dealers as one retailer saw sales double last Tuesday and in the U.S. there were also reports of strong sales of American Eagle gold coins. A weaker yen helped to stop the slide on Wednesday as the TOCOM forward contract squeaked out a small gain for the day but fell again on Thursday before the rally on Friday. Trading volume of TOCOM gold futures was very high last week especially on Monday and Tuesday as volume reached over 180,000 on both days. Open interest was little changed for the week and stood at 110,832 open contracts as of last Friday.
TOCOM Gold Daily Chart – Forward Contract (as of April 22)
TOCOM Gold Forward Contract Weekly Trading Data
|
Date |
Open |
High |
Low |
Close |
Change |
Volume |
Open Interest |
|
April 19 |
4372 |
4537 |
4369 |
4510 |
156 |
74870 |
110832 |
|
April 18 |
4364 |
4404 |
4211 |
4354 |
-9 |
83877 |
110108 |
|
April 17 |
4337 |
4437 |
4257 |
4363 |
28 |
104218 |
109622 |
|
April 16 |
4554 |
4571 |
4132 |
4335 |
-255 |
189593 |
112751 |
|
April 15 |
4981 |
4990 |
4532 |
4590 |
-410 |
183812 |
117779 |
TOCOM Platinum
TOCOM platinum futures got caught up in the gold meltdown but held up a little better. The most actively traded forward contract dropped by 6.5% or 322 yen last week. The forward contract closed Friday’s day trading session at 4609 yen per gram and closed higher than the TOCOM gold contract. The forward contract sunk to as low as 4310 yen during last Tuesday’s trading before recovering some of the losses and closed Tuesday’s day trading session at 4553 yen. Platinum futures fell last week due to the heavy drop in gold prices, weaker than expected economic data released by China and very weak automobile sales data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA). China released data last Monday showing less than forecast growth in first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) and this contributed to the drop in commodity prices in Asia last Monday in addition to following up on the sell-off in Europe and the U.S. the previous Friday. Last Wednesday in Europe the ACEA reported that car sales in Europe dropped by 10% in March and 9.7% in the first quarter year-on-year and this does not bode well for platinum demand as the metal is used extensively in diesel engine exhaust systems and diesel engines remain very popular in Europe. If these trends continue for the rest of the year, automobile sales in Europe could drop to 20-year lows. In platinum industry news, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) announced last week that output fell by 2% in the first quarter due to labor strikes and they expect the global platinum market to be roughly balanced in 2013 between supply and demand. Amplats is the world’s largest producer of platinum. TOCOM trading volume for platinum futures was very high early in the week due to the big drop in prices and open interest dropped by over 20% and stood at 48,234 as of last Friday.
TOCOM Platinum Daily Chart – Forward Contract (as of April 22)
TOCOM Platinum Forward Contract Weekly Trading Data
|
Date |
Open |
High |
Low |
Close |
Change |
Volume |
Open Interest |
|
April 19 |
4543 |
4642 |
4523 |
4609 |
101 |
13496 |
48234 |
|
April 18 |
4582 |
4611 |
4449 |
4508 |
-85 |
19023 |
49666 |
|
April 17 |
4574 |
4639 |
4511 |
4593 |
40 |
21526 |
51030 |
|
April 16 |
4630 |
4658 |
4310 |
4553 |
-96 |
47582 |
53460 |
|
April 15 |
4912 |
4921 |
4582 |
4649 |
-282 |
41666 |
61513 |
TOCOM Rubber
Prices of TOCOM rubber futures were not spared either as the benchmark forward contract fell by 17.2 yen or over 6% last Monday which was the largest drop in 17 months. A glut of rubber in the market and the above mentioned disappointing GDP data released by China last Monday led traders to sell rubber last week as prices declined from Monday to Thursday before recovering some of the losses last Friday due to a weaker yen and a recovery in other global commodity prices including oil. There was also a carry-over from the previous Friday’s news that Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, the top rubber producers in the world, may halt previously self-imposed export limits which could increase supply in the market. On Thursday, the forward contract hit a 5-month low of 242.6 yen per kilogram before closing Friday’s day trading session at 253.3 yen per kilo, which was an 8.3% or 22.9 yen drop for the week. As with platinum, the rubber market is also being hampered by demand worries due to the continuing drop in automobile sales in Europe. Stock levels of natural rubber at warehouses in both China and Japan also remain at very high levels and this continues to add to the bearish mood in the market. Trading volume was moderate last week despite the big fall in prices and open interest fell by around 2,500 contracts and stood just over 20,000 as of last Friday.
TOCOM Rubber Daily Chart – Forward Contract (as of April 22)
TOCOM Rubber Forward Contract Weekly Trading Data
|
Date |
Open |
High |
Low |
Close |
Change |
Volume |
Open Interest |
|
April 19 |
246.8 |
254.0 |
246.8 |
253.3 |
8.1 |
7597 |
20049 |
|
April 18 |
251.2 |
252.0 |
242.6 |
245.2 |
-7.2 |
9124 |
20291 |
|
April 17 |
257.3 |
262.5 |
251.2 |
252.4 |
-4.9 |
8619 |
21079 |
|
April 16 |
257.8 |
263.5 |
247.0 |
257.3 |
-1.7 |
12706 |
21725 |
|
April 15 |
275.3 |
276.0 |
256.4 |
259.0 |
-17.2 |
11114 |
22054 |
Exchange and Industry News
No news this week.
Disclaimer:
This market review and news report contains information and data from sources believed to be reliable and accurate as of the date of publication but has not been independently verified. This report is for informational purposes only and no employee, director or connected person to Dot Commodity, Inc. takes any responsibility for the information or correctness of the content contained in the report. Dot Commodity, Inc. is strictly an online commodity futures broker and does not give any trading recommendations or financial advice to any of its clients, perspective clients or readers of this report. No part of this market review & news report is to be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any commodity futures or financial contract or product of any kind.
