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    JM Bullion Gold and Silver Market Update (1/9/15)

    Gold Spot Price Open: $1,214

    Gold Spot Price Close: $1,224

    Change in Gold Spot Price: +$10

    Silver Spot Price Open: $16.48

    Silver Spot Price Close: $16.57

    Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.09

    Despite opening up the day posting modest losses, precious metals have since recovered and are going to end an upbeat week on an upbeat note. When all was said and done, gold managed to gain around 10 dollars while silver added roughly ten cents. Platinum and palladium also had a decent day today, with both metals adding around $5.

    US Employment Report Takes Center Stage

    Of all the pieces of economic data made public this week, few were of greater importance than today’s US employment report for December. We all know that 2014 was a solid month as far as the US labor market is concerned, but December’s figures are of the utmost importance. If December’s figures were extremely downbeat, the other 11 months of positive job market growth would be undermined significantly.

    Fortunately, today’s report showed that more than 250,000 new, non-farm jobs were created during the month of September. This figure not only beat out market expectations, it was also strong enough to bring the unemployment rate down to its lowest point since 2008, at 5.6%. Finally, adding icing to the cake was the fact that October and November’s non-farms payrolls were boosted, in total, by about 50,000 thanks to a revision.

    Despite all of this upbeat job growth, investors remain concerned that wage growth is more or less nonexistent. So long as wage growth is lacking, it is difficult to say that the US labor market is firing on all cylinders. I expect, as we head deeper into this year, that 2015 will see wage growth become a major concern for investors, not only in the US, but around the world as well.

    USD Index Fluctuates to Close Out Week

    When we closed shop on Thursday, the USD Index was hovering right around a 10-year high and was reflecting upon a solid week of gains. Unfortunately for many, the greenback opened up Friday having pulled back a bit. Though the Dollar was able to post some modest gains immediately after the release of December’s jobs figures, it did not take long for the Index to fall back into the red.

    Though the USD is struggling today, it is more than evident that the Dollar has had a solid first week of the year. For gold and silver, however, today’s momentary hiccup on the part of the Dollar has allowed spot values to make small gains to close out what has been a solid first week of the New Year.

    European Equities Trade Down on ECB News

    For the first time in three days, stocks across the European Union traded downward. The reason for today’s downturn is the fact that the European Central Bank is actively investigating and analyzing plans to buy more than 500 billion Euros worth of investment-grade assets (bonds). Though it is widely believed that the ECB is going to pursue bond-buying measures in the near future, up until this point it was mere speculation.

    As you could have probably guessed, the focus of the global marketplace will slowly but surely shift to the point where the market’s undivided attention will be placed on the upcoming European Central Bank meeting and its possible outcomes. As it stands, it is clear to see that the next few weeks will be quite busy for all investors.

    Wrap-Up

    All in all, this was a pretty solid week for gold and silver as well as the US Dollar. Now, gold is sitting above $1,200/ounce while silver is above $16/ounce. Looking ahead to next week, I anticipate that things will be just as busy as they were during this 5-day trading session. There is still a good quantity of economic data set to be released and, on top of that, the European Central Bank meeting is fast-approaching.

    Disclaimer: All Market Updates are provided as a third party analysis and do not necessarily reflect the explicit views of JM Bullion Inc. and should not be construed as financial advice.

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