European Central Bank President Mario Draghi re-affirmed Dec. 5 that interest rates will stay low for the foreseeable future and the Bank of England held its key interest rate at a record low the same day. Japan is buying about 7 trillion yen ($68 billion) a month of government debt. The Fed has kept its benchmark borrowing cost near zero percent since 2008. Bullion surged 70 percent from the end of 2008 through June 2011 as policy makers took unprecedented measures to boost growth amid most-severe global recession since World War II.

Gold’s 14-day relative-strength index fell last week to near 30, a level that suggests to some analysts using technical charts that the price may be poised to rebound. The RSI gauge was at 37.1 on Dec. 6.

‘Stable Base’

“A lot of selling has now been done, so you could see a more stable base for the gold price to build on,” said Frances Hudson, who helps manage about $271 billion of assets as the Edinburgh-based strategist at Standard Life Investments. “The reality at the moment is that the U.S. isn’t thinking of moving their interest rates. They’re talking about the possibility of tapering, which is several steps ahead.”

American employers increased payrolls by 203,000 last month, following a revised 200,000 advance in October, Labor Department figures showed Dec. 6. Gross domestic product rose at a 3.6 percent annual rate last quarter, up from an initial estimate of 2.8 percent and the strongest since the first quarter of 2012, the Commerce Department said a day earlier. The U.S. is the world’s top consumer of corn and crude, and builders in the nation put about 400 pounds (181 kilograms) of copper into the average home.

Record Outflows

Investors pulled a record $35.2 billion from commodity funds since the end of December, according to EPFR Global, which started tracking the flows in 2000. The GSCI index, which is heading for the first annual loss since 2008, reached a six-week high Dec. 6.

Bullish bets on crude oil climbed 7.8 percent to 246,661 contracts, the biggest gain since July, the CFTC data show. Fuel demand rose 1.7 percent to 20 million barrels a day in the seven days ended Nov. 29, according to figures from the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. Energy Department’s statistical arm. Consumption was 8.9 percent higher than during the same week a year earlier.

Speculators reduced their net-short bets on copper to 19,316, compared with 19,738 a week earlier, the CFTC said. Stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange have fallen to the lowest since February, while orders to withdraw the metal from warehouses in New Orleans are at a record. U.S. new-home sales jumped more than 25 percent in October, the biggest one- month surge since May 1980, a government report showed Dec. 4.

Farm Bets