Gold Spot Price Open: $1,200
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,206
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$6
Silver Spot Price Open: $16.89
Silver Spot Price Close: $16.80
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.09
Precious metals performed ok to start off the week, but due to the observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in the United States the marketplace in the US was quieter than normal. When all was said and done on Monday, gold gained about 6 dollars while silver ended up losing about 9 cents. Platinum and palladium both treaded water all day and ended up finishing in just about the same positons as where they started.
Trump Helps Metals by Agitating China
Throughout the past year or more, Donald Trump has been very outspoken on his views regarding China and Chinese economic and fiscal policy. To make a long story short, it has been made quite apparent that Trump is not the biggest fan of the Chinese nor of the things they do domestically and abroad.
Most recently, President-elect Donald Trump was quoted as saying that the “One China” policy is one that would be up for debate. Basically, the “One China” policy is a policy held by China which insists that Taiwan is and has always been part of a single, unified China. Trump, like most of Taiwan, feels as though Taiwan should be labelled an autonomous nation and one that, once and for all, will be free from Chinese rule. China does not like this viewpoint at all and is even more perturbed that Trump is being very vocal in his opposition of “One China.” In response to his recent comments, the Chinese warned that they would not stand idly by as Trump spews what they view as very toxic rhetoric.
As if that weren’t enough to get safe-haven investors out and purchasing precious metals, Trump’s comments regarding NATO assuredly were. In short, Trump made it known that he has no respect for NATO and actually called the organization “obsolete.” According to Julius Baer of Carsten Menkeets, “There’s the tussle between China and the U.S. over Taiwan. Trump has been talking to Taiwan, which the Chinese don’t like. His comments on NATO are seen as negative.”
Even before he is officially inaugurated (something that will take place on Friday), Trump is already stirring the geopolitical pot and is showing that he may not be so bad for precious metals after all. However, it must also be mentioned that Trump is seen to be a beneficial factor for the USD as well, so it will be interesting to see how this all works.
Wrap-Up
All things considered, there wasn’t a wealth of new talking points to greet us on Monday. Even though only US markets were observing a holiday, things were quieter across Europe and Asia. The big news of the week, as you might expect, is that of Donald Trump’s inauguration. Though it is not likely to have any major impact on financial markets, the inauguration ceremony itself is sure to be a spectacle. What’s more, this Friday marks the beginning of a US presidency where no one truly knows what to expect. The overarching uncertainty is palpable at this point, and is likely to not go away anytime soon.
