Gold Spot Price Open: $1,198
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,202
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$4
Silver Spot Price Open: $16.46
Silver Spot Price Close: $16.74
Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.28
Gold and silver spot values began the day trending upward, but lost most of their momentum as the day wore on, thanks, in large part, to a batch of upbeat US economic data. When all was said and done, however, gold gained about four dollars while silver added more than 25 cents. Platinum and palladium both finished the day in the green, having added about five dollars apiece.
Strong Batch of Economic Data Does Metals No Favors
Despite this week being only about three days in length for a majority of Americans, there is still a healthy amount of economic data on the table. Just this morning, a revised GDP report from the United States indicated that economic growth in the world’s second largest economy is still continuing along its upward trend.
According to reports made public earlier this morning, the United States’ third-quarter GDP was revised upward to show even better growth than was originally recorded. Officially, third-quarter GDP in the US was up by 3.9% on an annualized basis. This near 4% jump was an upward revision from a previously recorded GDP report which held that US economic growth only improved by 3.5% during the third quarter. With or without the revision, the GDP data was always going to be upbeat considering the market expected upward movement just over 3%.
The upbeat GDP figures are doing precious metals no favors and are really working to diminish safe-haven demand for gold and silver. Though spot values are up from where they were a week or two ago, they are still struggling to gain a foothold. According to Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, “Gold has levelled off in the $1,190 to $1,210 range, consolidating recent gains.” Without any lasting fundamental support, gold and silver may very well continue to struggle as we head deeper into the holiday season.
OECD Warns of Stagnating European Economies
The well-respected international group known as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a statement today claiming that the stagnating economies that make up the European Union are having a harmful effect on overall global economic growth. It has been no secret that the EU economy is struggling, but only now is it starting to dawn on people that a weak EU economy is having a harmful effect on the global economy.
The OECD went on to explain that the EU needs more government spending if it wants to find a way out of the mess it is currently in. Coincidentally, Mario Draghi, European Central Bank president, was quoted last week as saying that further government spending may be the next policy shift to be enacted by the region’s central bank. As such, it will be interesting to see what kind of attention will be paid to the upcoming ECB meeting as many people are expecting a policy change to be made.
Investors Anxiously Await OPEC Meeting
There is a lot of economic activity for investors to mull over and discuss this week, but few events are more noteworthy than Thursday’s OPEC meeting. With crude oil prices still at multi-year lows, the oil cartel of the Middle East will need to do something in order to stabilize and increase prices.
Though there is no saying what OPEC will decide to do as a result of Thursday’s meeting, we do know full-well that the market will be paying especially close attention to anything that is said in the meeting’s aftermath. At present, there are some people who think OPEC will announce lower daily oil quotas, while others believe they will simply choose to more closely monitor daily oil output as many member-nations simply ignore quotas in search of a more robust bottom line.
Wrap-Up
Today was probably the busiest day we will see this week. With many businessmen and women taking Wednesday off in order to travel or participate in holiday preparations, the last few days of the trading week are shaping up to be quiet. Still, markets in countries around the world will be open for a full 5 days this week, so there is a possibility that we have a lot to talk about despite the American holiday.
