Sydney, Aug. 19 (Dow Jones) - The price of gold cannot maintain its current levels, according to Martin Mayne, associate director of bullion sales with N M Rothschild & Sons in Sydney. In a note to clients Tuesday, Rothschild said recent demand has been coming from two sources that are both unsustainable: producer dehedging, or unwinding or closing out of hedge positions to leave producers more exposed to the spot price, and speculative fund buying. Mayne noted the latest data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the U.S. which showed that speculative long positions on Comex totaled more than 10 million ounces of gold as of last Tuesday. He called this "a level that has historically been unsustainable." In addition, Mayne highlighted the most recent figures from Gold Fields Mineral Services which showed a 5% increase in the unwinding of hedge positions in the June quarter, to 5.465 million oz. This accounted for 17% of global gold demand during the quarter, he said. "A hedge book can only be closed out once, and speculators cannot continue to buy indefinitely," Mayne concluded. At 0121 GMT, spot gold was quoted at $359.75 a troy ounce, up $1.30 on its late New York price from Monday.
