Gold fell to a four-year low earlier this month, but gold bugs hope that Russian central bank purchases and a Swiss referendum to make its central bank buy will lift the precious metal.
"The trouble is, neither are going to make much difference,"
writes MarketWatch columnist Matthew Lynn.
The Russian central bank has bought about 150 metric tons of gold this year, Governor Elvira Nabiullina told the country's lawmakers Tuesday, Bloomberg reports.
That compares to purchases of about 77 tons in 2013, according to the International Monetary Fund. It would also mean the central bank has acquired about 35 tons since Sept. 30, according
to Bloomberg.
But Russia "economically it is not strong enough to make any real difference to anything," Lynn says.
As for Switzerland, even if it passes the referendum Nov. 30, and a new poll from gfs.bern group indicates it won't, "the Swiss are not about to start buying in big quantities," he writes.
December gold futures settled at $1,197.70 an ounce Friday on the Comex. Gold hit a four-year low of $1,130.40 Nov. 7.
Many investors are bearish on the precious metal.
"Expectations of a hike in U.S. interest rates will continue to weigh on the gold market," Tommy Capalbo, a broker at Newedge Group,
told Bloomberg. "We may see some support because of physical demand during the holiday season, but the long-term fundamentals remain very bearish."
Those fundamentals include a strong dollar and low inflation.
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