Gold Spot Price Open: $1,212
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,224
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$12
Silver Spot Price Open: $17.25
Silver Spot Price Close: $17.46
Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.21
After trading steady to slightly lower for most of the morning, metals got a late-day boost and ended with healthy gains. When all was said and done, gold picked up more than ten dollars while silver was able to add more than 20 cents. Palladium and platinum also made gains by the end of the day, both in the neighborhood of about 15 dollars.
Dovish Fed Minutes Lift Metals
Gold and silver spot values spent much of the day in the red, but by the time the Fed’s minutes from last month’s FOMC meeting were made public things turned around quickly. In all, the minutes did not really tell us anything we don’t already know. The dovish nature was exemplified perfectly by the reiteration of there still being “considerable time” until interest rates in the United States will be raised.
The Fed cited weakening global economies as part of the reason why interest rates will be held at near-0 levels for the time being. The Euro Zone is an especially big concern for the Fed and is only seeming to get worse and worse, from an economic standpoint, with the passing weeks. Knowing that it will still be some time until interest rates are increased, investors from around the world turned to safe-haven metals. Lowered spot values in conjunction with today’s news may mean that the gains made today may be able to be retained through the duration of the week.
US Equities Rally After Fed Minutes
Much like precious metals, US equity markets were trading near even for a majority of the day prior to the release of the Fed’s minutes. Unlike metals, however, equity markets played host to extreme volatility throughout the day on Wednesday. The S&P 500, for example, went from posting a .5% loss at its lowest point to ending the day having gained nearly 1.5%. The Dow and Nasdaq indexes performed extremely well by day’s end today too, making today a pretty positive day for US equities all around.
Commenting on today’s market activity was John Canally, of LPL Financial in Boston, when he said, “The Fed is telling us if they raise rates it’s because of a good economy. If you’re up on stocks it’s because it’s more of the same from the Fed, not lurching closer to a rate hike.” While equities have taken decent dips over the last few weeks, we might be seeing them make a late-week rally as a result of today’s Fed data.
Wrap-Up
With the US Dollar currently moving downward against a slew of rivals, many are wondering if the greenback has finally reached the end of its rally. The Euro was a big gainer against the Dollar today and market experts are citing the dovish nature of the Fed as a main reason behind
