Budget: Duty hike to hit India’s gold, platinum import

Published on February 27, 2010 15:45

NEW DELHI (Commodity Online): India’s march to continue the global leader in gold consumption may be hit by Pranab Mukherjee’s Budget which proposed a three-fold hike in customs duty on gold and platinum imports.

In case of silver also, the Indian finance minister increased the duty three-fold from the present Rs 500 per kg to Rs 1,500 per kg.

As far as gold and platinum are concerned the present duty of Rs 100 per 10 gm has been hiked to Rs 300.

Maulidur Rasul

Seperti kelaziman tahunan, umat Islam di Malaysia akan menyambut hari sempena keputraan Rasulullah saw pada 12 Rabiulawal setiap tahun.Umat Islam di Malaysia akan mengadakan berbagai aktiviti dalam acara sambutan Maulidur Rasul. Kerajaan Malaysia mengisyhtiharkan 12 Rabiulawal setiap tahun adalah cuti umum. Diantara acara-acara dalam sambutan Maulidur Rasul ialah Perarakan, Syarahan, Forum, Marhaban dan Jamuan di peringkat kampung sehinggalah ke peringkat kebangsaan.

Chinese rumours keep Gold range bound

Published on February 26, 2010 12:19:06 IST

AHMEDABAD (Commodity Online): Gold Opened lower by Rs 1100 per 1KG on speculative selling by traders this morning. Trading in Gold during morning session was thin with price staying in narrow range.

“Technically, range for Gold is from 14100 to 18300,” said Anil Patadia, Commodity Analyst with Commodity Online.

Gold prices fall second day on dollar strength

Published on February 24, 2010 16:05:00 IST

Spot Gold prices slipped yet again for a second consecutive day as strength in the dollar made the yellow metal look unattractive for holders of other currencies. The dollar strengthened yesterday as a US report indicated that consumer confidence in the US had fallen to the lowest level since the last 10 months. Consumer confidence slumped to 46 in February as against a previous of 56.5 in January.

Financial markets in the US fell yesterday amidst the decline in consumer confidence and hence, investors were flocking towards the dollar as a safe-haven investment. Concerns over unemployment are also increasing and hence investors are still worried about the pace of economic recovery. Moreover, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony is scheduled for today and tomorrow. The chairman in his testimony to the Congress on the semi annual monetary policy may put some light on the recent hike in the discount rate of the Fed and also any change in the key interest rates.

George Soros invests in gold despite bubble talk

NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Last month, billionaire global investor George Soros rattled the bullion world by predicting that gold is an ultimate asset bubble and there was no fundamental reason why the yellow metal price should keep on rising.

But despite his ‘gold bubble talk’ that sent bullion investors panicky, it seems that Soros does not hate investing in gold and gold funds, especially the exchange traded bullion funds. In fact, Soros loves gold and gold funds, if you look at the investments that he has made into the yellow metal market last year.

According to a mandatory filing that Soros made before the US Securities and Exchange Commission, his Soros Fund Management holds 6.2 million shares of SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest bullion exchange traded fund.

The filing says at the end of the year 2009, Soros’ investment in SPDR Gold Trust stood at $663 million, up from 2.5 million shares at the end of the third quarter.

Soros and his fellow commodities investor Jim Rogers have been pronouncing that gold is the best bet and hedge against inflation during stock market meltdowns and economic turmoil. Since gold has been outperforming the US dollar, investors like Soros and Rogers have been holding the green flag for gold.

But last month, during the World Economic Forum, Soros had termed gold as the ultimate asset bubble. However, at the same time, Soros decline to reply to any questions whether he was continuing to invest in the yellow metal.

Bullion analysts say the very fact that Soros is going on an investing spree in gold funds proves that gold continues to be the best asset. “I do not understand why George Soros thought that gold is the ultimate asset bubble in the world. Most bullion traders have not really understood Soros on gold bubble especially when he continues to invest in gold and gold funds,” bullion analyst Mark Robinson told Commodity Online.

sumber : http://www.commodityonline.com/news/George-Soros-invests-in-gold-despite-bubble-talk-25745-3-1.html