Thread by @JReade_WGC

$Gold: consolidating above $1500/oz at the start of the week - last around $1502.80 following some volatility in early European trading.

An early test below $1490 per ounce just after 8am London was short-lived and $ quickly bounced back above $1500/oz.

If #gold is not quite following real US interest rates tick-for-tick, then its pretty close.

The strength in #gold this year continues to be seen in lots of currencies, not just the USD.

Daily ETF inflows in #gold continued on Friday, as this screenshot of our internal database shows.

Taking monthly inflows to about 54t. Europe is slightly ahead of North American-listed funds this month to date, in contrast to the past two months of US-dominated buying.

Another thing that stands out, however, is the COTR for Comex #gold futures positions.

This saw a large jump in net long Managed Money positions in the week to last Tuesday, which were just shy of the all-time high seen in July 2016.

Physical demand for gold at the moment is quite weak, with the Indian discount very wide for reasons of price, the import duty hike and some seasonality.

Shanghai demand for 9999 #gold on the SGE is muted at the moment as this monthly chart shows...

In sharp contrast to volumes in the speculative T+D contract which are already 20% higher than in July last year.

In conclusion, the #gold market is in the hands of investors and speculators at the moment, with physical buyinig in important markets weaker than normal.

Elevated positioning warrants some caution here, even if economic and geopolitical factors are worrying.

We will continue to write about the #gold market in all its forms on #Goldhub and short term commentary will, as ever, feature on the #blog there.

gold.org/goldhub

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