http://www.kitco.com/charts/livegold.html

cheers GF.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China's consumption of gold in the first six months of the year surged by more than half as sliding prices of the metal lured buyers, data showed, reinforcing expectations that the nation will overtake India as the world's top gold consumer this year.

Gold prices have lost about a fifth of their value this year after 12 years of gains, releasing pent-up demand across the world and particularly in India and China, where gold is an essential part of weddings and gift-giving.

China consumed 706.36 tonnes of gold in the first half of 2013, up 54 percent from the year-ago period, the China Gold Association (CGA) said in a statement on its website on Monday.

It consumed 832.18 tonnes in all of 2012 and about 460 tonnes in the first half of 2012.

"China bought a lot when prices fell below $1,350 in April thinking it will not fall further," said Chen Min, precious metals analyst at Jinrui Futures in Shenzhen.

"They bought much more than usual in April and May to meet the need for later in the year."

In April, gold witnessed its biggest two-day fall in 30 years. The metal has recovered after dropping below $1,200 in June, but is still subject to volatile trading and negative sentiment as a recovering U.S. economy stirs worries of a scale-back in the Federal Reserve's stimulus measures.

"China's demand in April and May was unmatched," said one Shanghai-based trader. "They bought more than anyone and were consistent buyers even after prices recovered a little."

China's gold demand could hit a record 1,000 tonnes this year and will overtake India, the World Gold Council said last month.

India's consumption this year is expected to be lower than last year's 860 tonnes as the government is trying to curb imports and reduce its trade deficit.

The Chinese government does not release data on gold consumption or imports. Investors rely on data from trade groups such as the CGA and import numbers from Hong Kong - a key supplier to China - to gauge demand.

"All signs have been pointing towards China overtaking India. Their demand in the second half may not be this high, but they are still way ahead of India," said the Shanghai-based trader.

Chinese consumers would like to see more stability in prices and not just lower prices, which is why Chinese demand is subdued currently, analysts and traders said.

The CGA also said output in China, the world's biggest gold producer, reached 192.82 tonnes in the first half, up 9 percent from a year ago.

(Editing by Himani Sarkar and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

...

Having a good day today, up 11,no doubt the above announcement re China has helped.

Not a penny share (for now!)

Westhouse Securities Buy 101.25 130.00 130.00 Retains

Is this autumn/ winter going to be good for the miners skinney or dull as before. All hangs on China...... or not?

Breaking 100 is a good sign

In an 'up' auction for a change!

One thing about POG, when it moves it can really shift!

Agree with that chessplayer, POG was a bit scary when it dropped to the mid 60's but recovering well, still just a little bit more required for breakeven for me though.
2517

SP up 19% gold up .5%? are shorts closing?

Gold just ticked up again.

Shorts are in big profit. They started shorting well above 240p

ahoy are shorts closing and taking their profits?

I think some will close at the close today.

Peter Hambro deals with gold losing its shine
Peter Hambro, one of the leading figures in Britain’s gold mining sector, has criticised hedge funds for distorting the market for gold and warned that there is potential for “disaster” in the industry.

Peter Hambro set up the then Peter Hambro Mining in 1994 after working in accountancy, banking and gold trading Photo: Paul Grover
By Andrew Cave
8:00PM BST 17 Aug 2013
8 Comments
Mr Hambro, co-founder and chairman of Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk, made the comment in an interview in The Sunday Telegraph.

The gold price, fixed at $1,376.12 per troy ounce in London on Friday, has fallen more than 30pc from a 2011 peak of more than $1,900.

Figures from the World Gold Council last week showed that ownership of the world’s gold shifted further East during the first half of 2013.

Overall demand for gold was 12pc lower in the three months to the end of June than in the comparable period for 2012, as Westerners dumped their exchange-traded holdings and Asian consumers responded to lower prices by adding to their hoards of jewellery and bullion.

“It’s rather odd,” said Mr Hambro, “Gold is streaming into the Far East. Russians are still buying; the Chinese are buying. There’s no secret. It’s in the international statistics.

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“Where the selling came from that knocked the gold price down, I really don’t know. It was such a very strange thing.

“I’ve been in the gold business for 35 years and never known a big change like that where it wasn’t obvious where it came from.”

Asked whether he is concerned that hedge funds are distorting the market, he said: “The quantity of gold available for delivery on the Commodities Exchange in New York is at its lowest level ever.

“The size of the contracts is at its highest, but the deliverable is at its lowest. There is the potential for disaster in those numbers.”

“Fractional reserve banking in gold is responsible for a lot of the strange things going on. You can set yourself up as a hedge fund and nobody knows who you are.

“Because of these strange machinations and the distortion between the physical market and the paper market, it’s very hard to say what’s going to happen.

“There’s a real risk that the people who’ve sold 'paper gold’ won’t be able to deliver and there will be some official ruling that will settle all the bargains at today’s price. Something like that will happen.”

Petropavlovsk, set up as Peter Hambro Mining in 1994, is now the second-largest producer of gold in Russia, the world’s fourth-biggest producer.

Before the gold price slumped again earlier this year, the company locked in half its production for just over a year at $1,640 an ounce and is now hedged against gold price movements until next July.

The company is in the midst of a major cost-cutting programme aimed at reducing the $1.2bn of net debt it had in March to less than $1bn by the year-end.

Petropavlovsk shares have fallen by 75pc over the past six months, while the company is the most shorted stock in the FTSE All-share index.

The shares closed up 22pc at 119.5p on Friday, valuing Petropavlovsk at £223m. Mr Hambro has a 4.62pc stake

Dominic Picarda in IC reckons that gold will reach $1925 in the long term, though another article in the same mag is expecting a short term drop in gold. Assuming this then reads across to POG, might be worth waiting for a dip & having a chunk of stock for a longer term investment. Of course, no knowing if they are right or wrong......!

Harry gold is always the safe haven during times of political uncertainty.

The volume of trade is certainly picking up , which looks positive. And let's face it, this stock has had the hell beaten out of it !

HSBC Underweight 126.50 126.50 40.00 82.00 Retains