Gold to quote above Rs 15,000 per 10 gram till Sept

There seems to be no respite for consumers in the near-term as gold

prices are expected to rule above Rs 15,000 per 10 gram till
September as analysts
pare bets for further weakness in the rupee.

"Gold prices were ruling higher over the past few weeks due to a weak rupee that makes the dollar-quoted yellow metal expensive. However, the weakness in the rupee is expected to continue in the near-term, keeping gold prices at above Rs 15,000 per 10 gram till September," Religare Commodities Metals and Energy Incharge Somnath Dey told PTI.

Rupee value may depreciate further to Rs 55 against the US dollar in the next two months from the current level of Rs 51.72, keeping gold not below Rs 15,000 per 10 gram, he said.

Presently, gold is quoting at Rs 15,450 per 10 gram. It made an high of Rs 15,750 per 10 gram on February 19.

Noting that rupee is behaving more like Korean currency, another analyst said revaluation of global currencies like euro and Pound sterling against the US dollar is building pressure on the Indian rupee.

Citing reasons for rupee weakness, D K Joshi, Principal Economist at domestic ratings agency Crisil, said, "Rupee value is getting depreciated these days due to a stronger dollar, which is strengthening following a rise in demand for the US currency globally. Besides, lower Indian exports and sluggish capital inflow have extended pressure on the rupee".

Meanwhile, there is a short supply of foreign currency reserves in the country, which have fell drastically due to liquidation of Indian investments by foreign investors and stronger US dollar, he said.

As per official data, foreign currency reserves have so far declined by 60.44 billion dollar since the end of March, 2008.

Joshi noted that rupee will continue to remain volatile between Rs 52 and Rs 53 in the next six months which will again pressurise gold prices.

Market experts said that though costlier gold has hit demand for physical gold in India, the world's largest consumer of jewellery, but investment demand for safe-haven asset is in rise across the world due to concern about the deepening recession.

Source: Economictimes

Gold extends losses on weak global cues

Extending loses gold prices fell by another Rs 40 to close at Rs 15,375

per ten gram in the bullion market here on selling by
stockists influenced by
weakening global trend.

Silver followed suit and lost Rs 300 to settle the day at Rs 21,800 per kg as selling remained unabated as the metal prices continued to slide in overseas market.

Marketmen said stockists offloaded part of their holdings in line with weakening trend in overseas markets mainly pulled down the precious metal prices.

They said reduced offtake by retailers and stockists due to off-marriage season further fuelled the down-trend.

Standard gold and ornaments lost Rs 40 each to Rs 15,375 and Rs 15,225 per ten gram respectively. Sovereign, however, remained steady at Rs 12,400 per piece of eight gram.

In a similar fashion, silver ready dropped by Rs 300 to Rs 21,800 per kg on poor offtake by industrial units and weekly-based delivery by Rs 140 to Rs 22,460 per kg.

On the other hand, silver coins continued to be asked around previous level of Rs 28,400 for buying and Rs 28,500 for selling of 100 pieces on reduced offtake.

Gold may hit $2,000 an ounce if dollar falls

Government infrastructure spending will drive a rebound in metals prices, while gold may reach $2,000 an ounce in the next year Investing in gold a safe bet.

if the dollar falls, an executive with UK fund house Schroders said.

"The potential for very sharp price rises in industrial metals this year is very good," emerging market debt and commodities product manager Christopher Wyke told reporters.

"We think in infrastructure the cutbacks will be very limited. When a recession happens, governments in the U.S. and elsewhere accelerate infrastructure spending."

He said that despite the global economic downturn, Asia retains its appetite for infrastructure spending, which will support prices of metals such as copper and zinc. Prices of the two metals have fallen around 58 percent and 54 percent respectively from a year earlier.

"The problems in Asia are not structural, they're essentially cyclical -- a very severe cyclical downturn," the London-based Wyke said in an interview at his firm's Hong Kong offices.

Wyke does not directly manage funds but oversees Schroders' commodities fund products which hold $4.5 billion in assets, including a recently launched gold and metals fund.

He said Chinese infrastructure spending will be a key driver of metals demand and prices.

"The level of credit in China has been shrinking in the last 10 years, the banking system has been reformed, and they have $2 trillion in reserves," Wyke said.

"So, is it likely there's going to be wholesale abandonment of infrastructure investment in China? No."

GOLD BULL

While Wyke has backed off from his stance last June that gold could reach $5,000 an ounce over the next few years as a refuge from inflation, he still expects the precious metal to show stronger gains in the second half of 2009 if the dollar falls and inflation fears mount.

"If you saw the dollar resume its fall and maybe toward the end of this year you started seeing people worried about the inflationary consequences of U.S. government policies, then gold prices could move up very sharply," Wyke said.

"In the next 12 months, if that were to happen and the dollar were to fall, a gold price of $2,000 an ounce is quite likely."

Spot gold, which was trading at $937.20 around 0835 GMT on Monday, has risen 6.6 percent in 2009 as investors seek a safe haven of value amid the global slump.

Schroders' gold and metals fund was up 6.15 percent this year at the end of February, Wyke said. At the end of January, the fund was worth nearly $61 million, and is down 34.3 percent since its launch in July 2008.

Source: Economictimes

YELLOW METAL SHINES BRIGHT

While most of the popular asset classes are going through bad times, the yellow metal shines on. In fact, in the last one year, gold has given a return of more than 25% and currently trades at Rs 14,695 per 10 gm. Even gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) have appreciated substantially. Gold Gold Benchmark Exchange Traded Scheme (BeES) and Kotak Gold ETF have given more than 25% returns each in the last three months.

Even as the equity markets have taken a hit with the Sensex losing around 46% in the last one year and real estate prices also witness a correction, investors’ preference has shifted to safe havens such as gold. On an average , most of the diversified equity mutual funds have fallen and real estate developers are offering discounts. Thus gold remains the safest bet.

The appreciation in the gold prices is mainly due to its safe haven status. Says, Jayant Manglik, head commodities at Religare Commodities, "The key reason for gold to go up is lack of other investment opportunity. There is also a risk in keeping the money in currency form as most of the currencies have depreciated against one another. Moreover, most of the countries are facing liquidity problems and the currency will further depreciate if they go in for printing money."

The historical trend proves that gold prices have a positive correlation with inflation and crude oil price. It is considered as the best hedge against inflation. But in the prevailing economic condition, gold prices have moved in the reverse direction from both crude oil price and inflation.

Where crude oil prices have corrected from $146 a barrel in the last year to $41 a barrel now, gold prices have appreciated to Rs 14,695 currently from the lowest of Rs 10,653 last year. Thus while in the last year, the rising inflation rate and crude oil prices were buttressing gold, now it’s the uncertainty, which is pushing the price up.

Says, Naveen Mathur, head, Angel Commodities, "There are several factors that impact gold prices. Crude oil price and inflation are a couple of factors. But the quantum of impact of each of these factors differs depending upon the economic condition. Currently, the impact of financial and economical uncertainty is driving gold prices up." The depreciating rupee has further helped the gold price to go up as major portion of the gold is imported.

Source : Economictimes

Silver too on a roll in tune with gold

After taking a cue from gold, silver is too glittering never before. On Tuesday,

the price of spot silver (.999) breached the
psychological mark of Rs 23,000 per kg to
touch Rs 23,700 in Chennai. While in Mumbai the metal surged by Rs 705 to Rs 22,315 per kg in Mumbai, it jumped by Rs 500 to Rs 22,000 per kg in Kolkata.

Thus the metal had gained more than Rs 4,000 per kg from January 16, when it settled at Rs 18,170 per kg in Mumbai market. A plunge in equity markets and firm global trend also boosted buying sentiment to some extent in domestic markets, dealers said.

Further, the steep rise in yellow metal has become unaffordable to retail buyers particularly in the midst of marriage season. And hence they opt for silver which is comparatively cheaper, a bullion merchant said in Mumbai. A retail jeweller in Vashi said many prospective gold buyers were postponing their buying decision as they are unable to grapple with never-before like prices.

In international markets, silver hit a six-month high of $14.09 an ounce. In London, spot silver was last seen at $13.97/14.05 an ounce from Monday’s New York close of $13.57

Source: Economictimes

Hindustan Zinc: Asia's 'silver king' by 2013?

Vedanta Resources group firm Hindustan Zinc is poised to become

Asia's largest and world's sixth biggest silver-producing company
by 2013 with a total
production of 500,000 kg per annum, sources said.

The company, which at present claims to produce 100,000 kg of the precious metal, has undertaken expansion of its Sindesar Khurd mines in Rajasthan to augment its capacity and join the league of leading silver-producing nations like Peru, Mexico, Chile and Australia.

"Hindustan Zinc has been consistently increasing its silver production in the past. By 2013, we would be producing 500,000 kg of silver. This is going to give a boost to the domestic ancillary industry," the company's Chief Operating Officer Akhilesh Joshi said.

At present, Hindustan Zinc's market share in the domestic market is 2.5 per cent. Post-augmentation of the capacity, it is likely to supersede Kazakhmys as Asia's largest primary silver producer. The Kazakhstan firm's annual production is close to 500,000 kg.

As per the World Silver Survey 2008, India's annual demand of silver is pegged at around 3,200,000 kg, 77.1 per cent of which is met through imports while 18.8 per cent is procured from the secondary market.

Source: Economictimes

Silver futures surges 2.45 pc on firm global cues

Silver prices shot up by 2.45 per cent in futures trading on Tuesday on

increased buying by traders in line with a firming trend
in overseas bullion markets.

Silver for the March-month contract spurted 2.45 per cent to Rs 21,954 per kg on the Multi Commodity Exchange in a trading volume of 5,195 lots.

The metal for May contract jumped 2.24 per cent to Rs 22,188 per kg in a trading of 359 lots and July contract by 2.22 per cent to Rs 22,402 per kg in trading of seven lots.

Buying activity picked up as the precious metals, gold and silver, rallied in overseas markets. Silver gained 0.21 cent to 13.94 dollar an ounce abroad.

Meanwhile, in Singapore, gold rallied over 960 dollar an ounce, the highest in seven months, as investors bought the metal as an alternative to slumping equities and to preserve their wealth as the global economy sags.

Source: Economictimes

Silver outshines gold in returns

Everyone’s talking about gold and its glitter but check the returns silver has Why invest in Gold now?

. Based on Saturday’s closing in the Mumbai bullion market, ready silver (.999) at Rs 23,230 per kg has given returns of 28% this year. In comparison, gold (99.5 purity) has returned 17%. Analysts say silver has the potential to outperform gold and investors should keep their eyes open while parking their money in the precious metals space.

While silver fluctuated in the wide range of Rs 16,400 to Rs 27,000 in 2008, and finally ended the year at levels which were around 10% lower than in 2007, gold has had an unprecedented bull run and finished 2008 with over 20% returns. This at a time when stock markets were down, enhanced the proposition of gold for investors , say market experts.

But commodity gurus like Jim Rogers have been betting on silver for sometime. He recently said if given a choice between the two precious metals, the Singapore-based investor would go for silver. When TOI contacted him on silver’s fortunes , he said, “I own it’’.

People like him, who own silver in India, have seen the metal rise from Rs 18,100 per kg (on December 31, 2008) to Rs 23,320 in close to 50 days in Mumbai bullion market. This is no different from what has happened in other bullion markets like those at Delhi, Chennai , Hyderabad, Indore and Kolkata. Gold, which started the year at which Rs 13,435/gm, closed at Rs 15,745/gm on Saturday , giving close to 17% returns in the same period.

Like gold made all-time high the past week, silver, too, climbed to a five-month high. “If one has Rs 100 to invest in precious metals, he/she could invest Rs 60 in silver and the rest (Rs 40) in gold. It’s a good investment option,’’ Mandar Pote, who tracks bullion at Angel Commodities, said.

At commodity exchanges such as NCDEX and MCX, silver has been the top gainer among commodities with 9-10 % gain this week while gold was the second best giving returns of 7-8 %, data shows. According to investment advisory firm SMC Global, silver contracts for March delivery at MCX are showing an uptrend while the weekly stock position shows rise of 3,649 kg for the week ended February 19.

Source : Economictimes

Diamond Color

The kept Back Riddle of Diamond Color

Fed up of wearing the same old white Diamond set every now and then? Want some change? Presenting before you a colorful luminous journey…Color diamond? How to determine whether it is real or faux?

Diamonds do exist in ample range of colors. Several of them are extraordinarily fascinating and more attractive than the conventional white. But they are very few and rare to find. Come out of the shackles of the conventional white diamond and get yourself a Color Diamond. Qualified gemologist is the only one who can verify and differentiate between a real and fake diamond. There are some simple assessing tests that can be used by a shopper that do not require specific tools. These tests rely upon the various ways a diamond responds when put under specific conditions like light, heat etc. If breathing on the stone leaves it misty then it is not an authentic gem. Place a diamond on top of any printing, if it is magnifying the writing and you can read through it clearly, it is obviously a fake diamond. After flashing light through the gem brings bright radiance on the other side, it is highly possible that it is a true diamond. If the surface of diamond is rough and if the rim is rounded then it is almost certainly bogus.

Where are Colored Diamonds sourced from?

Most of the Colored Diamonds are sourced from Argyle mine in Western Australia. Many makers have made these colorful master pieces their signature item. Most of these stones are rare and are these days considered to be the latest fashion buzz. These colored diamonds come in natural and enhanced categories. Natural Diamonds are simple yet elegant and are untouched as against enhanced diamonds which have been fiddled with and remain inexpensive.

How diamonds are evaluated?

One can assess diamond with help of four C’s:

color, cut, carat and clarity. Diamonds are graded on scale of D to Z by GIA. Color diamonds generally termed as ‘fancy color diamonds’ are available in rainbow colors. The diamond scaled from D to F, mostly colorless, fetch more prices. But when Diamonds are graded for fancy colors i.e. above M, they become expensive again when compared to the lighter shades. The colored diamonds are exceptionally striking. White, pink, yellow, brown, black and the list is incessant.

How to distinguish fake and real diamond?

Apart from the transparency test, there is another way of making out real diamond from fake one. Real diamond reproduces different tones of grey. If diamond gives the multicolored reflection, then it must be a fake diamond. The sparking sides of a gem are also an indication of Genuine Diamond as a fake one lacks luster. Taking a sand paper test also helps differentiate. The scratch on stone means it is a fake diamond.So come with open eyes into this colorful world and take home genuine Color Diamond.

Choosing The Cut of A Diamond

There are many different cuts of diamonds to choose from. The cut essentially refers to the shape that the diamond is cut into

unless you are in the diamond or jewelry business, but this shape has a great impact on the much the diamond sparkles. The most popular cuts are heart, marquise, oval, pear, princess, round, trillion, and emerald cuts. The shape has an impact on how much the diamond sparkles, but the actual cutting itself when the diamond

cutter actually cuts the diamond into a particular shape also matters a great

deal. If the diamond is poorly cut, it will lose its sparkle. However, in the diamond industry, the cut of a diamond doesnt refer to its shape at all.

Instead, this is a reference to the stones

depth, width, brilliance, durability, clarity, and other aspects of the diamond. Common cutting problems include a missing or off center culet, misalignment, a diamond that is too thick or too thin, cracks, or broken culets. When shopping for a diamond, you should of course choose the shape that you like the best, but then look at several different diamonds of that shape to find the one with the best cut the one that sparkles the most,

in all types of lighting.

History of gold prices (in rupees)

Good information to know :


1930: 180 per 10 gram
1940: 360 per 10 gram
1950: 1000 per 10 gram
1960: 1110 per 10 gram
1970: 1840 per 10 gram
1975: 5,400 per 10 gram
2000: 3,000 per 10 gram
2006: 5,400 per 10 gram
2009: 15,700 per 10 gram.
Gold surprisingly gave 300% returns from 1970 to 1975 when world suffered worst ever recession after great Depression. Will the history repeat? That is the reason behind current "Mad Gold rush". But if you invested in the Gold in 1975, your investment gave negative returns for the next 25 years.

Remember 2 things:

1. Gold generally trades in the lower range around March and July. Generally, it is the best time to buy gold and marriage season is the best time to sell God.

2. Below 11,000, Gold is a safe investment but above 15,000- it is only for traders but not for investors.

Future of Gold:

When stock markets are in down turn in 2002, Gold was at Rs 5,400 per 10 gram. Don't forget that Gold traded below 9,000 per 10 gram till 2007 means you might have got routine returns from Gold investment. But investors who made investments in gold in mid-2007 are now making 70% returns in just 20 months. But I don't know what will happen to gold investors who bought it at above 15,000 but they remain inlosses even after 3 years. Why? Gold will recede to 11,000 levels once equities make comeback. What happened to crude oil will repeat in case of gold also. Don't forget that Gold is not even an essential commodity. But Gold is a less volatile investment.

Examples:

1. Crude oil prices moved to $147 per barrel and Goldman Sachs people gave $200 per barrel target. It is now trading below the fundamental price at $35 per barrel.

2. Sensex moved to 21,000 and analysts and analysts gave 30,000 target. It is now trading at 9,000 levels.

3. Real Estate prices reached astronomical levels in 2007 but people bought land as if there will be no land available for purchase in future.

Coral and its Genuinity

Coral is a tree/rock-like deposit consisting of the calcareous skeletons secreted by various anthozoans. Coral deposits often accumulate to form reefs (coral reefs) on islands in warm sea. The red-orange, pinkish, or white deposits secreted by corals used to make jewelry and ornaments.

It is like a plant consisting of only trunks and stems, without leaves and flowers, which live and grow under the sea water. These is where small newly born fish hide against their hunter. The trunk is about one inch across (maximum) while the stem is about 2mm across(minimum). Diver picked the whole plant and sawed them to cylindrical pieces. Drill each piece of cylinder a hole in the center passing through the other end. Polished them and then use a plastic wire (fishing line) or dental floss or gold wire or any thread that is strong enough, to pass through each hole of cylinder to form a bracelet or necklace.

Every country have coral reefs under their seabed. So you don't know which country the corals came from. When we say they come from that country we usually meant they are cut, polished and drilled there. I think here in the Philippines no one know how to cut and drilled hole on them.

Source - WEB

Calculating Price of Jewelry

This calculation will hold true to all jewelry that is not mounted or attached with stones, pearl, ornament, etc.. First you must know how much the price of gold for today. We can go to www.kitco.com/gold.live.html, Kitco Inc.-Gold & Precious Metal Price Update or www.cnnfn.com/markets/commodities.html, CNNfn- Commodities Stock. From Kitco (October 20, 1996), gold is quoted at US$ 379.95 per ounce. One US$ = 26.265 Philippines Pesos (October 20, 1996). We first convert the price of gold to Philippines Pesos. 379.95 X 26.265= P 9979.38 per ounce. Next convert them to gram, from above information, one ounce equal 31.1 grams. P 9979.38/31.1= P320.88 per gram.

P 320.88 is the cost of gold per gram minus profit. So you ask how about 18K or 20K and so on. Well it is easy, first determine how must 24K gold is contain in 18K gold. 18/24 = .75. Next P 320.88 X .75 we get an answer of P 240.66/gram for 18K. For the price above you must add about 5 to 10% for losses occur during the making of gold into jewelry (some gold become dust or minute particles that jeweler can not able to recover them) and add some more for the cost of silver and copper too. Silver and copper cost so little that we often ignore their price in computation. So that's it, P 336.92 to P 352.96 per gram for 24K gold, of course this does not include the jewelry store's profit yet.

Let say one jewelry store sell for P 355 per gram for 24K and you choose a 24K bracelet that weigh 35.8 grams. How much will you pay for it? 35.8 grams X 355 = P 12,709. Some store add labor for the bracelet they sell, let say P 300, so P12,709 + 300, we get 13,009 for the price of the bracelet. The one who sell it without labor added will quote a higher price per gram compare to those without labor. Labor goes to the pocket of goldsmith who make them from gold bar to finished product. Which is cheaper? It's almost the same just don't exceed 50 or 100 grams and there is a big difference. Here the one with additional labor will be cheaper. For imported one that sold here in the Philippines, there is a lot of plus, plus. But if you go directly to the country you are interested, the above computation still applied but with slight variation.

Source - WEB

GRAMS, KILO, OUNCE, BAHT, AND TAEL

Gram is a metric unit of mass equal to 1/1000 kilogram. Kilo or kilogram is 1,000 grams. A troy ounce is equal to 31.1 grams. A baht is 15.2 grams, this is Thailand weight for their jewelry. A Tael is 37.037 grams in the Philippines. A Hong Kong Tael is 37.5 grams. There is a slight difference in weight for the two country. I think they do not consult each other first before they settle for the weight of Tael. A Tael in Chinese is . One Tael = 10 . A Tael in jewelry is different in weight from the Tael uses in Chinese drug store here in the Philippines. One gram equal 5 Carats. Carat is a unit of weight for precious stones like diamonds and rubies.

Source - web

karat vs 916

Karat is define as a unit of fineness for gold equal to 1/24 part of pure gold in an alloy. It means how pure a gold is. Alloy means the degree of mixture with base metal, gold being the base metal. A 24 Karat gold is equal to 100% pure gold. But we never say 100%, because no one has ever refine them to that point. The highest purity achieved is 99.99%, so a 24 Karat gold is 99.99% pure. Most of Hong Kong jewelry have a 9999 mark on them. And all branded gold bar too.

A 22 K gold from gold mine will have 91.6% pure gold while the remaining 8.4% will consist of any metal- silver, copper, iron, aluminum, etc. You just divide 22 K by 24 K to get an answer of 91.6%. Singapore jewelry always mark them with a 916. If I ask you how much pure gold content is in a 10 K gold. The answer is 10/24=41.6% pure. In jewelry the alloy added to make them to lower karat are always a mixture of silver and copper. No other metal can be mix with gold because it will later become blacked or rusted depending on what you put into it. 585 is 14 K.

We have 1 K, 2 K, 8 K, 23 K or 23.5 K of jewelry. Any karat is possible, it only depend on the jeweler who mix and melt them.

White gold here in the Philippines is not Platinum, it is only a mixture of gold and nickel (a malleable, silvery metal). We do have Platinum here in the Philippines but seldom seen them make into jewelry. The price for 24K Platinum is higher than the 24K yellow gold.

Source - WEB

Does Jewels Get Affected when subject to heat

Yes, and no. Yes, if it has pearls, jades and other stones mounted on them. Diamonds and almost all precious stones are not afraid of extreme heat, just don't subject them to sudden extreme changes of temperature. Example- when you heat a diamond, let it cool down by itself, don't pour water to speed up the cooling process or the diamond will break.

No, if there is no stone attached on them, but the gold when heated to a high temperature will become brown or black colored. Not so much on 22K but 20 to below 1K. The reason is that there are higher concentration of silver and copper on 20K to 1K. You will not see any changes in color for 24K when heated, only the welded portion or spot will appeared black. This is because we use 14K gold as welding rod for 24K jewelry. Some jewelers are able to make 24K jewelry without using welding rod.

Source - WEB

Basic Definition of GOLD

Webster dictionary defines gold as the most malleable and ductile metal, yellow metallic element that occurs chiefly free or in a few minerals and is used especially in coins, jewelry, and dentures.

Malleable means it can be hammered by beating or by pressure of rollers, extended or shaped down into a thin gold sheet or film. In fact it can be made thinner than the thinnest paper available. A weight of 31.1 grams can cover 68 square feet (0.0001 inch thin).

Ductile means it can be drawn out of a tungsten-carbide hole, just like making a copper wire. It can be make finer than our human hair, to a point that our eye almost can not see.

Gold is relatively soft, corrosion-resistant element. Do not corrode in air, but is tarnished by sulfur. A good thermal and electrical conductor. Melting point is 1,063 degree Centigrade and boiling point is 2,800 degree Centigrade.

The above descriptions refer only to 24 Karat gold.

You can say that copper is soft evidently it is easily bend, but will crack and break when reach to certain thinnest and finest. Lead too.

Source - Web