"Massive Outflows In Gold Exchange-Traded Products Seen In April"

Straight talk from Kitco:

Analysts continue to watch demand for exchange-traded products to determine if and when gold prices can break out of their current trend.

Gold prices have been extremely volatile since Monday as traders and investors wait to hear from the Federal Open Market Committee and the European Central Bank as they both will release their interest rate decisions. The Fed will release its decision this afternoon and the ECB announcement will come out Thursday morning.

As of 12:17 a.m. EDT, spot gold was under pressure, trading at $1,442.70 an ounce, down $34.50, or 2.34%, on the day ahead of the Fed decision.

Despite the recent volatility, the one clear trend remains, high outflows of physical gold from exchange-traded products like SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSE ARCA: GLD). Information provided by the trust shows that 4.45 million ounces of gold were redeemed in April. According to some media reports, that is the biggest outflow in 43 months.

“In precious metals markets, we see the potential for further downside in gold from current levels as the pace of ETP liquidation has reached new highs again,” wrote analysts from Barclays Capital in a research report published Tuesday....MORE

Although gold came back a bit it was still down for the day and this is starting to look like the rapids before the waterfall.