Archives for October 4, 2017

Gold turns up from seven-week low as U.S. dollar pares gains

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1 kg. gold bars are seen on a production line in Ahlatci Metal Refinery in the central Anatolian city of Corum, Turkey, May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Gold on Tuesday rose above a seven-week low as the U.S. dollar came off its highs.

Bullion was pressured earlier by strong U.S. economic data that reinforced expectations of another U.S. interest rate increase this year and pushed the dollar and U.S. bond yields higher. (.DXY)

Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,272.04 per ounce by 3:13 p.m. EDT (1913 GMT), after the dollar flattened and U.S. bond yields eased from earlier highs.

Gold had earlier touched $1,267.76, its lowest since Aug. 15 and down more than 6 percent from a one-year high of $1,357.54 in early September.

“The speculators don’t want to take it below key levels, because of uncertainty of the next Fed chair and how inflation will play out after a potential December hike,” said Ryan McKay, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities in Toronto, referring to the modest rebound in gold prices.

U.S. gold futures (GCcv1) for December delivery settled down $1.20, or 0.1 percent, at $1,274.60 per ounce, after hitting the lowest in nearly a month at $1,271.

The CME’s Fedwatch indicator showed markets were pricing in a 77 percent likelihood of a December rate rise after Monday’s data showed a surge in U.S. manufacturing activity.

U.S. and world stocks also rose to records as a positive global growth outlook encouraged investment in riskier assets. [MKTS/GLOB] (.N)

A strong dollar typically makes gold more expensive for holders of other currencies, while higher bond yields reduce the appeal of non-yielding gold.

“The factors that pushed gold towards $1,360 in early September are now reversing,” Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke said.

Menke said he expected a strengthening dollar and normalization of speculative positioning to push gold to $1,200 an ounce by the end of the year.

Prices had also been supported by purchases of physical gold by bullion-backed exchange-traded funds. But ETF holdings tracked by Reuters dropped between Friday and Monday by the most since late July. (HLDTOTALL=XAU)

Silver (XAG=) was up 0.4 percent at $16.60 an ounce but still near its lowest since Aug. 9.

Platinum (XPT=) was up 0.2 percent at $912.40 per ounce, after dipping to $902.40, the lowest since July 14.

Palladium (XPD=) was up 0.8 percent at $916.60 per ounce, after hitting a two-week low at $904.00. It earlier slipped below platinum after reaching price parity for the first time in 16 years last week.

(Additional reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru. Editing by David Evans, Greg Mahlich and Steve Orlofsky)

JPMorgan Chase has taken the No.1 spot in a critical ranking for the first time in nearly 25 years

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(Another win for Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase.Reuters)

JPMorgan Chase dominates Wall Street investment banking. It’s also the largest US bank by assets and market capitalization.

Now, it can add top US bank by deposits to the mantle.

For the first time in 23 years, JPMorgan leads US banks in total deposits, according to data released this week by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The firm’s deposits grew by $96 billion, or 7.9%, in the past year to reach $1.31 trillion as of June 30, 2017, according to the FDIC. That was enough to edge out Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which finished with $1.29 trillion.

Wells Fargo ($1.26 trillion), Citigroup ($505 billion), and US Bancorp ($329 billion) round out the top-5.

JPMorgan has lead the country in deposit growth each of the past five years, with customers and businesses adding $447 billion to the bank’s ledger over that time, according to the company.

Buffett Says He’ll Hold This Bank Stock For A ‘Long, Long, Long’ Time

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Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) would hold Bank of America (BAC) stock for a “long, long, long time,” citing CEO Brian Moynihan’s attempts to turn the bank around.

“Bank of America’s done a sensational job under Brian Moynihan,” Berkshire CEO Buffett told CNBC. “Brian had all kinds of problems when he came in. I mean, they were not of his own doing, but he had a ton of problems. And he had a lot of rocks to turn over, and it cost a lot of money, and he just set out, step by step, to bring the bank back.” Buffett added that Moynihan had also made moves to cut expenses.

Berkshire in August exercised warrants to acquire 700 million shares of BofA, making it the bank’s biggest shareholder. The investment vehicle owns 6.6% of BofA, according to Reuters.

Buffett also has stakes in such banks as Goldman Sachs (GS), Wells Fargo (WFC), Bank of New York Mellon (BK) and others.

Bank of America closed 0.9% higher at 25.86 on the stock market today. The stock is still within buy range of a cup base with a 24.45 buy point. Goldman edged up 0.4%, Wells Fargo reversed higher to finish up 0.2%, and Bank of New York Mellon advanced 0.3%.