• Gold, little changed, may extend gains after jumping to a seven-week high yesterday as concern that the global economic recovery may falter spurs demand for bullion as a store of wealth.
• Bullion is headed for a third weekly advance and gold exchange-traded fund holdings in the past two weeks pared some of the decline from last month’s record.
• “The short-term outlook for the economy is pretty uncertain,” said Lee Suk Jin, commodities analyst with Seoul- based Tong Yang Securities Inc. “Gold should be supported for the time being because investors are increasing the insurance- like metal in their portfolios.”
• Gold for immediate delivery was little changed at $1,231.95 an ounce at 10:34 a.m. Seoul time after yesterday jumping to as high as $1,237.50, the highest intra-day level since July 1. Spot gold has gained 4.2 percent in August. December-delivery futures were little changed at $1,233.70 an ounce on the Comex in New York.
• Initial jobless claims in the week ended Aug. 14 jumped to the highest level since November, U.S. Labor Department data showed yesterday, while manufacturing in the Philadelphia region unexpectedly shrank for the first time in a year.

Japan rubber stocks up 6.7 pct in 10 dyas to Aug 10

• Japan’s crude rubber inventories totalled 3,496 tonnes as of Aug 10, up 6.7 percent from 10 days earlier, data from the Rubber Trade Association of Japan showed.

• As of July 31, crude rubber inventories snapped a falling trend lasting more than four months, increasing about 25 percent to 3,275 tonnes from July 20 when they hit a record low of 2,628 tonnes.
• Inventories had been at record lows since June 10.
• The latest figure was less than half the 7,449 tonnes of inventories a year ago.
• Some analysts have said the tightness in physical supplies would improve after rubber supplied to the market from producing countries showed signs of rising slightly.
• Tight supply has kept the Tokyo market in backwardation for longer than usual at this time of year, making it unattractive for shippers to carry rubber cargoes to Japan, and resulting in the steady decline in rubber stocks.

• Rubber inventories hit a 2010 high on Feb. 28, totaling 8,222 tonnes. That was the highest since July 20, 2009.

For more information –[email protected]