Gold Spot Price Open: $1,202
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,209
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$7
Silver Spot Price Open: $16.41
Silver Spot Price Close: $16.45
Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.04
Precious metals finished the day on Thursday having posted gains, but what gains were made were limited by bearish outside markets. When all was said and done, gold managed to add about 7 dollars while silver improved by less than 5 cents. Platinum and palladium finished the day mixed, but neither spot price moved too far from where it began the day.
FOMC Minutes Continue to be Digested by Market
Today was about par for the course for how this week is going seeing as there was very little new information for investors to focus on. As a result, we saw a lot of continued reaction and speculation following the more dovish FOMC minutes that were made public yesterday afternoon. In case you missed it, the Fed is holding steadfast to the belief that a number of market conditions need to change before interest rates are raised. This time, the emphasis was one the uncertain nature of the crude oil market.
As a result of yesterday’s more dovish FOMC minutes, the market is now growing increasingly convinced that interest rates in the United States will remain put for the duration of the year. Of course, a lot can happen between now and December, so I am sure this sentiment will change to some degree sometime in the near future. For precious metals, the more reserved minutes helped provide a bit of a boost, but a stronger US Dollar and weaker crude oil prices helped push metals down away from daily highs.
Greece Officially Receives 6-Month Bailout Extension
Talks between Greek government officials and their EU creditors this week have resulted in a 6-month bailout plan extension. Not only will Greece now be able to hold off on rolling out certain austerity measures, their financial system will also be on the receiving end of a sizable injection of cash. This is the most crucial aspect of this week’s agreement because without this most recent round of cash, the Greek financial system was going to be facing a credit crunch, the likes of which would more than certainly force Greece out of the European Union.
The market’s reaction to the deal reached with Greece has been generally upbeat. Investors will now have a bit more confidence in the European Union’s financial standing, though there is no saying how long this uptick in confidence will linger.
Wrap-Up
As you can tell from this week’s redundant headlines, there really isn’t all that much happening across the global marketplace. The Chinese Lunar New Year officially began today, so you can expect that news from Asia over the course of the next week or more will be light. According to a number of reports, the ceasefire in Ukraine has officially collapsed, but the market is yet to really emit much of a reaction to that. We will continue to focus on things in Europe, especially if Friday proves to be as lackluster and uneventful as the last two days.
