By Kavya Guduru

Feb 9 (Reuters) – Gold eked out gains on Wednesday, helped by a weaker dollar and a retreat in U.S. Treasury yields, although prices moved in a tight range as investors refrained from making large bets ahead of U.S. inflation data.

Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,834.25 per ounce by 13:42 EST (1842 GMT). U.S. gold futures settled up 0.5% at $1,836.60.

“Dollar is down a little bit and it seems somewhat supportive to gold, but overall the gold market is just kind of flat in anticipation of tomorrow’s CPI number,” said Daniel Pavilonis, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.

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Thursday, in its annual report, the LMBA said that 38 market analysts participated in this year’s forecast survey. Gold prices are expected to average $1,973.80 an ounce, up 11% from the 2020 average. However, the outlook is only a modest 4.5% increase compared to the average price seen in the first half of January.

“Gold is expected to be subjected to a high level of volatility in 2021, with the widest forecasts predicting a high/low range of $1,192 compared to $780 in 2020,” the LBMA said in the report.

With the gold market expected to be relatively tame through 2021, the LBMA said it expects all eyes to be on silver. Precious metals analysts expect silver prices to average $28.50 an ounce this year, an increase of 38% from the 2020 average price and up 8% from the average price since the first half of January.

The volatility seen in the silver market this past week could foreshadow the price action through the rest of the year.

“Silver is undoubtedly the star of the show,” the LBMA said. “Silver is forecast to be the best-performing metal in 2021, but with a trading range of $38.5, nearly five times its range forecast last year, it looks as if it’s in for a real rollercoaster ride in 2021.”

Looking at the Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) market, analysts are expecting to see a reversal of fortunes between platinum and palladium. Analysts see platinum averaging 2021 around $1,131.50 an ounce, up 28.2% from the average price in 2020.

Meanwhile, analysts expect palladium prices to average this year around $2,439.10 an ounce, up more than 11% from the average price seen last year.

“The market was in love with palladium last year, and it proved the star performer, posting an impressive 52% increase in price in 2020. But analysts are predicting that it will be the worst-performing metal this year,” the LMBA said.

As to the important factors driving precious metals prices in 2021, the report noted that 25% of analysts said that low to negative interest rates would be positive tailwinds for gold, silver, and PGMs.

read more via: https://www.kitco.com/news/2021-02-04/Precious-metals-prices-will-see-double-digit-gains-in-2021-silver-to-steal-the-show-LBMA-price-forecast.html

By Aug. 23, 2020 5:30 am ET

The 2020 gold rush in markets is starting to unnerve even some longtime fans of precious metals.

Gold futures are near records and up about 28% for the year, while silver has more than doubled since hitting a multiyear low in March. The moves aren’t entirely surprising, given the scale of the coronavirus-driven economic shock and the countervailing global stimulus led by governments and central banks. Many investors fear economic stagnation, an outbreak of inflation or some combination of the two—a recipe for rising demand for metals viewed as a store of value in trying times.

But with the rush into gold has come an increase in volatility that many traders don’t welcome. Both metals have dropped about 6% or more from peaks hit this month and are recording bigger daily swings than normal, suggesting that gold and silver have joined U.S. tech stocks among the most crowded trades in markets—creating the risk that months of outperformance could vanish in a day or two of frenzied selling should market or economic conditions turn.

Assets under management for five gold-backed ETFs

“Almost everybody is talking about gold.…That is a warning signal in a way,” said Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management, which is holding more gold than its market benchmark but may sell some if volatility continues. “At least until the election in the U.S., this volatility will persist.”

Read more via: https://www.wsj.com/articles/etf-boom-fuels-golds-sharp-rise-11598175001

By and Updated July 24, 2020 2:20 pm ET

Gold prices rose to a new closing record for the first time since 2011, extending a summer surge fueled by nervous investors adding bullion to their portfolios as the coronavirus muddies the global economic outlook.

Most actively traded gold futures, for delivery next month, rallied 0.4% to $1,897.50 a troy ounce, climbing for the sixth consecutive session and eclipsing their August 2011 peak of $1,891.90. Gold came close to topping the high on Thursday and has risen steadily since the end of 2018, spurred by trade tensions and the pandemic pushing investors toward safer assets.

The coronavirus has ignited a global gold rush, with physical traders around the world trying to get their hands on more metal and individuals around the world ordering bars and coins. Even as stocks rally, many investors remain nervous about the pandemic and a host of geopolitical concerns ranging from the relationship between the U.S. and China to November’s U.S. presidential election.

“It’s a special time for precious metals where every factor seems to be moving in their favor,” said Tai Wong, head of base and precious-metals derivatives trading at Bank of Montreal. “The market is uniformly bullish.” He has been a metals trader for about 15 years and only remembers this much excitement in the sector following the financial crisis.

read more via: https://www.wsj.com/articles/gold-climbs-to-all-time-high-topping-2011-record-11595612234?mod=hp_lead_pos4

By Sarah Kliff June 10, 2020

If not for coronavirus, you’d expect your local dentist office to be doing just fine.

Dentist offices tend to be stable businesses that stick around for decades, unlike restaurants that open and close frequently. Dentists earn a healthy salary — a median of $159,000 — and offer services with no clear substitute. If you need your teeth cleaned or a cavity filled, the dentist is the only option.

This makes them, in the eyes of some economists, the perfect barometer for gauging the country’s recovery from the shock of the pandemic.

“If you look at your typical dentist office, nothing went wrong with their business model,” said Betsey Stevenson, an economics professor at the University of Michigan. “It’s just coronavirus that happened.”

READ MORE VIA: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/upshot/dentists-coronavirus-economic-indicator.html

In this part, we use S&P Global Market Intelligence data and insight to look at how the metal price environment for the precious metals and uranium has evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the gold price dropped mid-March along with those for most other commodities and markets, it has since come back strongly on the back of higher financial investment demand. Meanwhile, silver, despite record retail investment, has sunk to its lowest price in 11 years due to lower industrial demand. Looking at the platinum group metals, or PGM, lockdowns in South Africa and plummeting global auto sales have severely shocked prices. This disruption has kept an uneasy balance, however, and has not yet fundamentally changed the price trajectories of upward for palladium and rhodium, and downward for platinum.

Read more via: https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/research/covid-19-impacts-to-metals-prices-volatility-is-here-to-stay-part-2

Updated: April 8, 2020

In order to protect staff and preserve personal protective equipment and patient care supplies, as well as expand available hospital capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that dental facilities postpone elective procedures, surgeries, and non-urgent dental visits, and prioritize urgent and emergency visits and procedures now and for the coming several weeks. This aligns with recommendations from the American Dental Associationexternal icon (ADA) and the American Dental Hygienists’ Associationexternal icon (ADHA) to postpone non-emergency and elective dental procedures, as well the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)’s guidancepdf iconexternal icon that all non-essential dental exams and procedures be postponed until further notice.

For emergency clinical care of patients with known or suspected COVID-19, dental providers should follow the Interim Infection Prevention and Control Guidance for Dental Settings During the COVID-19 Response as well as the Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) or Persons Under Investigation for COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings. If a dental facility is not able to follow this interim guidance, dental personnel and medical providers should work together to determine an appropriate facility for treatment. The urgency and need for a procedure are decisions based on clinical judgement and should be made on a case-by-case basis.

This is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation and CDC will continue to update this guidance as more information becomes available.

CDC urges providers to be familiar with the information on CDC’s COVID-19 website. Specific information is available for Healthcare Professionals, including a Healthcare Professional Preparedness Checklist, instructions on Evaluating and Reporting Persons Under Investigation (PUI), Healthcare Personnel with Potential Exposure Guidance, and What Healthcare Personnel Should Know. Dental healthcare personnel can also consider signing up for communications from CDC’s Health Alert Network, which is CDC’s primary method of sharing information about urgent public health incidents with healthcare providers.

Read more via: https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/infectioncontrol/statement-COVID.html

The COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on our daily lives is rapidly evolving. Here are some resources and guidance to help dentists navigate this unprecedented time for their practices, staff and patients.

Last updated: April 9, 2020Digital Event | Friday, April 10 at 11 a.m. CT: Calculate the Cash Burn Rate Of Your Dental Practice and Extend the Number of Days You Have Money Left in the COVID-19 Crisis. Register for Friday’s live webinar.

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