6th October 2017

 We were not surprised to see gold fall back on Thursday (back down to $1270/ounce) as the tentative gains it made over the past 24 hours were occurring against a backdrop of a stronger dollar, solid US macro data and surging US equity markets. Silver also lost modest ground as well; platinum finished higher, but palladium snapped back from several days of declines to pick up $21/ ounce on the day and once again trade back over platinum. In the currency markets, the dollar made solid gains against sterling, which lost about a penny and a half (now at $1.3150) after Prime Minister May gave an ineffectual party conference speech on Wednesday, one marred by coughing fits, a protestor interrupting her speech and one of the letters of her party’s wall slogan falling down behind her -- all in all, a PR nightmare. The following morning, there were rumors that she would resign and although they were strongly denied, the fact that the Conservatives look so weak is unnerving the markets given that a victory by the surging Labour Party would be extremely negative for the currency.