Gold Spot Price Open: $1,242
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,238
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$4
Silver Spot Price Open: $18.16
Silver Spot Price Close: $17.95
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.21
Gold and silver fell on Friday, but the losses incurred on the final day of the week will not be enough to prevent weekly gains from being realized. When all was said and done, gold lost about 4 dollars while silver was down by roughly 21 cents. Platinum and palladium each lost about 10 dollars on the day.
FOMC Minutes Lie Ahead
There was not much in the way of economic data dealt on Friday, and as a result markets did not move all that much. The Dollar bounced back after Thursday profit-taking losses, and that alone was enough to prevent metals from making much in the way of positive progress. With that said, both gold and silver have now made weekly gains for the past 3 weeks, which is very good news.
Looking ahead to next week, things are going to begin on a rather somber note as US markets will be closed on Monday in observance of the Presidents Day holiday. Once things get back underway, however, there will be a good bit of information for investors to pour over and discuss—namely, the minutes from the FOMC’s last meeting. Being that the trajectory of precious metals’ spot values is heavily dependent on US monetary policy, investors will be looking very closely at what FOMC members have to say.
As we have said all week long, the current expectation is that interest rates will be risen this year, but not anytime soon. Right now, most are anticipating that April or May might be when the first rate hike will occur, however there are some who think it could be as late as June or July. As Janet Yellen said in her testimony to Congress this week, this is something that must be approached with caution, but not too much caution. Having said all of this, it goes without saying that US economic data is likely going to play a major role in determining the direction of gold and silver’s spot values in the near to medium-term future.
Stocks Back Down After Impressive Run
Earlier this week, news of a potential revamping of US individual and business taxes propelled stock markets to record highs. President Trump, throughout the whole of his campaign, promised the American middle class that he would do everything in his power to lessen the burden of taxes on individuals, households, and small businesses. Up until this week, that much was nothing more than a campaign promise that had yet to be acted upon. Though that is still, technically, true, President Trump commented on his intentions to unveil a new tax plan in the near future.
The mere word of a new tax plan got the marketplace going and really propelled stocks forward. This put some pressure on metals through the middle parts of the week. Friday saw stock markets pull back to some extent, but it would be absolutely no surprise to see those indexes jump back upward should President Trump follow through on his promise to unveil his plan.
Wrap-Up
On the whole, this week was a fairly quiet one. Though we got some news in the form of Janet Yellen’s testimony to Congress, nothing she said came as that much of a surprise to anyone. Gold and silver are still, in a way, benefitting from safe-haven demand and it is looking like that much will continue. So long as President Trump remains as unpredictable and inflammatory as he has been through his first few weeks in office, worldwide investors will remain jittery.
