Gold Soars: Physical Buying of Gold "Exceptional"

Gold has rebounded sharply today, taking the goldminers up with it. Investors used the last few days to load up on physical gold, to very hefty profits today.

Reuters reports today that physical gold buying has been "xceptional"


"...Holdings of the largest, New York's SPDR Gold Trust, declined some 5-1/2 tonnes but are still up 1.2 percent so far this month.

Most major funds are still in positive territory for September in percentage terms, with the iShares Gold Trust and ETFS' Swiss Gold fund up 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, heavy buying of physical gold stocks -- often a price-sensitive area of demand -- suggested that Monday's price fall had whetted investors' appetite for the metal.

Swiss bank UBS said it had seen very strong physical buying in Asia, particularly number one bullion consumer India, on Monday. "To be clear, physical demand right now is not just decent, it is exceptionally strong," the bank said.

Other precious metals also bounced back after Monday's hefty losses. Silver, which slid as much as 16 percent to a 10-month low of $26.04 an ounce on Monday, rose more than 9 percent to a high of $33.48 an ounce.

Spot platinum was up 1.3 percent at $1,575.50 an ounce, while spot palladium was up 3.7 percent at $650.22 an ounce.

Gold's premium over platinum stood at around $90 on Wednesday, with a ratio of 1.06, its highest in 20 years".