Gold soared this week, nearing the $1,200 level for the first time since late October.
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Moody’s Investors Service on Monday downgraded Japan’s sovereign debt rating by one notch to A1, citing rising uncertainty over the country’s ability to hit its debt-reduction goal. The announcement briefly sent the yen to a seven-year low against the dollar and pushed 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) futures down by 10 ticks.
Japanese silver saw a 9.9% increase on Wednesday, December 3, reaching JPY 619.00 ($5.19) per 10 grams and making it the biggest upwards shift of the day. Indian silver finished the day up 0.6% to INR 37,660 ($609.41) per kilogram. At $16.46 per ounce, the price of US silver was essentially unchanged. Chinese silver stayed flat at around CNY 3,500 ($569.34) per kilogram.
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Finishing at JPY 4,597 ($38.56) per gram, Japanese gold bullion made a large daily increase of 4.5%. US gold bullion closed 1.2% lower at $1,199 per ounce. Following a couple days of improvement, the price of Indian gold bullion weakened by 0.6%. Prices closed at INR 26,923 ($435.66) per 10 grams. Chinese gold bullion finished the day down 0.3% to CNY 237.59 ($38.65) per gram.
Japanese platinum bar gained 2.3% to finish at JPY 4,657 ($39.07) per gram. The price of US platinum bar declined 1.8% to $1,212 per ounce. At CNY 255.00 ($41.48) per gram, Chinese platinum bar fell 1.2% yesterday.
The price of Japanese palladium bar increased 2.1% to JPY 3,130 ($26.26) per gram. After improving for two days, the price of US palladium bar declined 0.5% to $801.00 per ounce. Chinese palladium bar saw little change in its price yesterday at CNY 177.00 ($28.79) per gram.