precious metals flash

Gold is very much tied to the EUR and USD moves. Another attempt at the $ 1700 level was stopped as the USD reversed its upwards move and short covering set in. Gold quickly made up the losses from the morning and rallied back up breaking the $ 1725.00 resistance easily again, rallying all the way up to $ 1750.00 with a weaker USD. There is no activity on the ETF`s in the last few days, as positions remain unchanged. Physical demand out of India and China is very low due to the high prices, stocks are still on a high level. Demand from both countries is expected to pick up in April/May again. Market is still awaiting news about the bailout deal with Greece, which is still pending, as Prime Minister Papademos missed another deadline to secure a bailout package. The strike at Impala`s platinum mine continues for another week. Fed Chairman Bernanke reiterated that US economy is improving at extremely slow pace and that low rates will persist for a long time. He did not specifically rule out the possibility of an additional quantitative easing (QE3). Iran is considering a plan to stop oil exports to Europe, before EU launches an oil embargo. The news pushed up the oil contract $ 2, trading at $ 99.20 this morning.