Gold
As some strength returned to the beleaguered dollar overnight, the appetite for financial insurance in the form of gold waned slightly. Gold slipped as low as $995/oz in early morning trading but has rebounded to be currently trading just above $1000/oz. The news that the IMF are to sell over 400 tonnes of gold into the market was widely expected and therefore this news was largely priced in. Also, the sales will fall within the terms of the newly agreed Washington Agreement that limits central bank sales to 400T per year for the next five years.

In recent weeks, China, Russia and India have expressed an interest in buying the IMF gold. Reuters reports overnight that China is considering buying the IMF gold, citing two unnamed government sources. Potentially more significant is the rumour that China may discuss its gold plans at the G20. China surprised the market and many analysts earlier this year with the news that it had lifted its own stocks of gold to 1,054 tonnes from 400 tonnes when it last reported its holdings in 2003. It should be remembered that 403.3 tonnes of gold is worth some $13 billion dollars which is a tiny fraction of the Chinese $2 trillion of dollar reserves – let alone the Russian, Indian, OPEC and other creditor nations dollar reserves.

Silver
Silver has fallen off slightly and is trading at $16.60/oz.

Platinum group metals
Platinum is trading at $1311/oz. Palladium is at $298 and rhodium at $1,575/$1,675.