China smelter group agrees to lower Q1 copper charges
The charges tend to fall when ore supply declines and rise when more concentrate is available.
A team of Societe Generale analysts led by Patrick Legland released a report today entitled, “The End Of The Gold Era,” claiming that the precious metal is in “bubble territory” and that it will continue its slide to $1375/oz by year’s end.
Legland reiterated common themes in recent gold market analysis, saying that “expectations for rising interest rates, driven in part by a positive view of the US economy with an associated improvement in the dollar, could be the perfect storm to start a longer-term bear market.”
Given the more positive economic outlook, senior FX strategist at SocGen Sebastian Galy finds it unlikely that investors would be tempted to add significantly to their long bullion positions.
Gold was down to $1574.80/oz at 13:13 EST as ETF outflows continued and the US dollar strengthened.
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif)
Chart courtesy of Kitco
Sources: Nasdaq.com; Business Insider; Bloomberg
