Gold and silver rose marginally for a second day yesterday as bargain hunters and value buyers continued to accumulate.

The dollar was up marginally as was oil and stock markets eked out marginal gains.

News that international gold scrap supply (mostly consumers selling jewellery) has for the first time in 30 years surpassed international jewellery demand. Looked at singularly, this is ostensibly bearish. But it is bullish from a contrarian perspective as it shows that there is little or no “gold mania”. Speculative bubbles only develop when there is a mainstream perception that you must invest in a certain asset class as it is going to rise much higher. Clearly this is not the mainstream perception today, nor has it been in recent months, as the man and woman in the street are selling and not buying gold.