Germany’s Central Bank Displays Gold Bars Reserve

Germany's central bank displays its gold reserves. Picture source: Reuters
Germany's central bank displays its gold reserves. Picture source: Reuters
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Germany’s Central Bank Displays Gold Bars Reserve

Germany's central bank displays its gold reserves. Picture source: Reuters
Germany's central bank displays its gold reserves. Picture source: Reuters

Months after the Bundesbank, Germany's federal bank, reacquired much of its gold bullion reserves from abroad, the bank is presenting a portion of its treasure to the public for the first time.

Speaking of the current exhibition of the noteworthy bars of gold bullion and rare coins on display at the German Money Museum in Frankfurt, Carl-Ludwig Thiele, a board member of the bank, said: “Almost nothing attracts more public interest than that of pure gold,”

According to the German News Agency, among the displayed gold is one of the oldest gold bars from the German currency reserves, which was poured in London in 1917. "The exhibition completes the Bundesbank's transparency initiative on its gold," says Thiele.

After growing public pressure in 2013, the bank set itself the goal of holding at least half of the German reserves in its own vaults on home soil. Hundreds of bars from the vaults of the US Federal Reserve in New York and the Banque de France in Paris were brought back to Frankfurt. The relocation of the precious metals was completed in August.

Some 1,710 tons of the metal will continue to be stored on the premises of the Bundesbank in Frankfurt. Some German gold will remain in New York and London. Germany possesses 3,378 tons of gold, estimated to have a value of 141 billion dollars.

In the case of a major crisis, gold can be exchanged for currency. London is the largest trading center for the precious metal and the US dollar the most important international reserve currency.

The exhibition "Gold. Treasures at the Deutsche Bundesbank" will run until September 30, 2018, at the Money Museum of Bundesbank in Frankfurt, Germany.



Gold Slips as US Bond Yields Rise, Investors Assess New Tariffs

Gold rings are displayed in a gold shop in Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand August 21, 2018. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/File Photo
Gold rings are displayed in a gold shop in Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand August 21, 2018. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/File Photo
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Gold Slips as US Bond Yields Rise, Investors Assess New Tariffs

Gold rings are displayed in a gold shop in Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand August 21, 2018. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/File Photo
Gold rings are displayed in a gold shop in Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand August 21, 2018. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/File Photo

Gold prices eased on Tuesday, weighed by higher US Treasury yields as US President Donald Trump announced new tariff proposals on trading partners, including Japan and South Korea.

Spot gold was down 0.2% at $3,328.67 per ounce, as of 1207 GMT. US gold futures fell 0.1% to $3,338.20.

The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes rose to a two-week peak, making the non-yielding bullion less attractive.

"Gold is stuck between a rock and a hard place," said UBS commodity analyst Giovanni Staunovo, Reuters reported.

"Negative for the gold price is the US decision to extend the deadline for a trade deal for many trade partners, positive for the gold price is the fact that key US trading partners in Asia might have to deal with higher tariffs in the near future, weighing on economic growth prospects."

On Monday, Trump told 14 countries that sharply higher tariffs would start on August 1, marking a new phase in the trade war he launched in April, with levies between 25% and 40%.

The new deadline was firm, Trump said, adding that he would consider extensions if countries made proposals for a trade deal.

"Reciprocal tariffs" were to be capped at 10% until July 9 to allow for negotiations, but so far, agreements have been reached only with Britain and Vietnam. In June, Washington and Beijing agreed on a framework covering tariff rates.

Meanwhile, China has warned the Trump administration against reigniting trade tensions and threatened to retaliate against nations that strike deals with the US to exclude it from their supply chains.

Trump's tariffs have stoked inflation fears, further complicating the US Federal Reserve's path to lower interest rates.

Investors await minutes of the Fed's June meeting, due on Wednesday, for more clues into the bank's policy outlook.

Spot silver fell 0.1% to $36.71 per ounce, platinum rose 0.2% to $1,372.51, and palladium rose 0.6% to $1,117.33.