International News
Sarine Posts $3.49 Mn H1 Loss As LGD Pressure Market
The Company Attributed The Latest Deficit Primarily To Higher Operating Expenses, Which Increased About 25% From A Year Earlier, Competition From Lab-Grown Diamonds and Weak Luxury Demand
Sarine Technologies Ltd. reported a net loss of $3.49 million for the first half of 2026, as competition from lab-grown diamonds and weak luxury demand in key markets continued to weigh on the diamond industry.
The Israel-based diamond-technology company said it expects market conditions to remain challenging, although anecdotal reports indicate that retail demand for natural diamonds has remained relatively stable.
Sarine’s loss for the six months ended June 30 compared with a $3.7 million loss in the second half of 2025 and a $166,000 loss in the first half of last year.
The company attributed the latest deficit primarily to higher operating expenses, which increased about 25% from a year earlier. Nearly half of that increase was linked to the impact of a weaker U.S. dollar against the Israeli shekel.
The natural-diamond polishing sector continued to face pressure from lab-grown diamonds, particularly in the U.S., while subdued luxury spending in China added to the strain. Sarine said those conditions hurt sales of capital equipment and some of its traditional services.
Some parts of the business, however, showed stronger momentum. Revenue from Sarine’s Most Valuable Plan, or MVP, more than doubled in the first half as diamond manufacturers increasingly adopted artificial-intelligence-driven planning tools to improve yields and reduce production costs.
Certification activity at GCAL, in which Sarine acquired a 70% stake in 2023, also increased more than 50%. The growth helped cushion weaker sales of capital equipment and lower volumes from the company’s Galaxy scanning business.
Revenue declined 6% year over year to $14.41 million, while the operating loss stood at about $2.2 million.
The results underscore the uneven impact of the diamond market’s structural shifts on technology providers. While traditional equipment and services remain exposed to pressure on natural-diamond manufacturing, demand for technologies that improve efficiency and reduce costs is gaining traction as manufacturers contend with tighter margins.
International News
Gold Prices On Track To Reach $4,900/oz By End 2026 :Goldman Sachs
Goldman’s $4,900/oz Forecast Assumes Central Bank Demand Averages 50 Tonnes Per Month In 2026 and 40 Tonnes Per Month In 2027
Gold prices are on track to reach $4,900 per ounce by the end of 2026, driven by aggressive central bank purchases—led by undisclosed buying from China—and recovering exchange-traded fund (ETF) demand, Goldman Sachs said in a research note.
The bank maintained its bullish base-case target for bullion while warning that positioning in options markets could amplify price volatility in both directions. Central banks accumulated an estimated 44 tonnes of gold in July, well above the pre-2022 monthly average of 17 tonnes, according to Goldman Sachs’ nowcast model. On a three-month seasonally adjusted basis, central bank buying stood at 91 tonnes per month.
China was the primary driver, with Goldman estimating the People’s Bank of China bought 35 tonnes in July—roughly 75% more than official public disclosures indicated.
To account for unreported sovereign purchases, Goldman’s model tracks physical bullion flows through London’s over-the-counter (OTC) market into custodian vaults. The Bank of England’s central bank holdings alone rose by 63 tonnes in July, exceeding outflows from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Price Risks and Volatility
Goldman’s $4,900/oz forecast assumes central bank demand averages 50 tonnes per month in 2026 and 40 tonnes per month in 2027, alongside steady Federal Reserve policy and a rebound in private ETF inflows.
However, analysts noted that elevated demand for gold call options—used by investors to hedge against macroeconomic and geopolitical risks—creates mechanical upside and downside risks:
Bullish Case: Continued strong ETF inflows combined with existing call option positioning could force options dealers to buy underlying metal to hedge short exposure, pushing prices “well above” $4,900.
Bearish Case: If the Federal Reserve resumes interest rate hikes, unwinding hedge positions and triggering ETF outflows, gold could drop to $4,440/oz by end-2026. Goldman noted that ongoing central bank buying would limit further downside.
Goldman expects the Federal Reserve to remain on hold through 2026 as inflation cools, removing a key interest rate headwind for the non-yielding asset.
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