SILVER GOLD PRICES @ 8 MONTHS LOW

In the International Market Silver today fell to an eight-month low on concern that industrial consumption is not strong enough at a time when demand is waning for a protection of wealth. Silver slid 1.3 per cent to USD 26.91 an ounce, the lowest since July 25. Prices are down 11 per cent this year. Gold lost 0.5 per cent to USD 1,568.45 an ounce, after reaching USD 1,563.68, the lowest since March 8. The metal is down 6.4 per cent this year after rallying the past 12 years in the longest run in at least nine decades. Gold declined this year on confidence that the US economy is strengthening and as some Federal Reserve policy makers debated the pace of asset purchases. While the International Monetary Fund is predicting global growth of 3.5 per cent in 2013, from 3.2 per cent in 2012, it expects a second year of contraction in the euro area. About 53 per cent of silver is used in industrial applications from televisions to batteries, the Washington-based Silver Institute estimates. Global government stimulus has cut the likelihood of further banking and liquidity crises and reduced the need for a protection of wealth, Credit Suisse said today. The bank cut its 2013 gold forecast by 9.2 per cent to USD 1,580 and lowered its silver estimate by 11 per cent to USD 28.50. Investors own 19,691.8 metric tonnes of silver through exchange-traded products, about 0.2 per cent below the March 18 record. Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest gold-backed ETP dropped to 1,208.9 tonnes, the lowest level since July 2011.