Gold Spot Price Open: $1,209
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,200
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$9
Silver Spot Price Open: $16.50
Silver Spot Price Close: $16.27
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.23
After jumping between small gains and small losses all day, metals decided to quite fittingly end this poor week on a sour note. When all was said and done, gold lost about 9 dollars while silver fell to the tune of 23 cents. For gold, this is now the fourth consecutive week of losses. Platinum and palladium lost today too, both by about 10 dollars.
Greek Debt Talks Drag On
All week long we have been keeping you up to date with all the latest developments from Greece’s talks with Eurogroup creditors. Despite reporting a few days ago that a deal was on the verge of being reached, it was later found out that such was not the case. Once again, this time today, there have been widespread reports claiming that Greece and its creditors have reached a deal that will see austerity measures and other aspects of the 2012 bailout plan put on hold for a while. Despite the fact that no one has officially confirmed these reports, the Euro has gained considerable value today on the word alone. As you probably could have guessed, the Euro’s progress today worked against the USD and the USD Index, both of which finished in the red.
As we head into the weekend, the market will be interested to see if a deal between Greece and its creditors was reached, or if these were nothing but rumors. Regardless, I am willing to bet that Greece’s bailout debacle will continue to be a primary concern for investors moving forward.
Upbeat EU Economic Data Lifts Euro
Sticking with Europe and all that is going on there, it was reported today that the EU’s composite PMI was recorded as being at its highest level in 7 months. Officially, February EU PMI came back at 53.5. This not only handily beat expectations, but also beat January;s reading of 52.6 by a nice margin. After recent EU data has brought back nothing but dour report after dour report, it is encouraging to see such positive numbers coming from the European Union.
Another outcome of today’s better than expected EU data is the fact that stock markets have been able to derive some benefit. Stocks in the US and in Europe made nice gains today and have fared well for a majority of the week. It will be interesting to see, as next week rolls around, if stocks can keep up this rally. If they do, you can expect that even more pressure will be piled upon precious metals.
Wrap-Up
With as slow and uneventful as this week has been, I, for one, am glad to be bringing it to an end. Unfortunately, next week is not looking like it will be all that much more exciting so you can expect that the Euro-centric outlook of the market will continue. First on the minds of investors will be this supposed Greek bailout deal, but apart from that it will be intriguing to see what Ukraine looks like come Monday. There are now numerous reports claiming that the ceasefire has all but failed, and we will be given some concrete clarification on that by the time markets open next week.
