Has someone heard something/

Indian ex-duty premiums: AM $2.19, PM 96c, with world gold at $777.70 and $784.70. Adequate, and a little thin for legal imports. Since world gold was some $10 higher than when India was last open (on Tuesday) this is a creditable performance. The rupee was quite strong, finishing up 1.1% at $1=R49.03 (Tuesday: 49.58). The stock market surged 5.37% amidst the first reports of offshore purchases in a long time.

India of course has received a huge windfall in the form of the reduced oil price. A firming rupee would be a big positive for the world gold market.

Yesterday’s $4.90 gain on Comex saw open interest slip 1,151 lots (3.58 tonnes). The apparent amount of sensitive short interest in the market appears to be material.

Today’s Banner day for gold – up $34.60 on Comex – was notable for the fact that the bulk of the move occurred in the Comex floor session Estimated volume by 10 AM was almost equal to all of yesterday’s (66,376 versus 72,555 lots) and the total was 115,558, with a switch effect of 5,078. A healthy day for the Bulls.

Writing in the small hours of the morning, The Gartman Letter abruptly cut its entire gold short, blaming the softening dollar. Considering the NY nature of today’s move, one wonders if this well-informed observer had heard something.