Gold Spot Price Open: $1,237
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,243
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$6
Silver Spot Price Open: $17.79
Silver Spot Price Close: $17.73
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.06
Precious metals were almost fully back to winning ways on Wednesday thanks to the US Dollar and US stocks backing down. When all was said and done, gold managed to add about 6 dollars while silver fell, but only by roughly 6 cents. Platinum and palladium gained initially, but the day concluded with platinum losing a few dollars while palladium finished even.
Gold Hits 3-Month High as Bulls Persist
Gold was gaining ground as soon as the day began thanks to stocks and the greenback backing down from gains made yesterday. In fact, the yellow metal even managed to hit a 3-month high during the middle of the day. As has been the case for the past 2 weeks or so, safe-haven demand has been on the rise thanks to persistent worries relating to the words and actions of President Donald Trump.
Also driving safe-haven demand are the upcoming elections in France. As it stands, the frontrunner is Marine Le Pen, a right-wing “National Front” leader who has already vowed to remove France from the EU, much like the UK did late in 2016. The simple fact that there might be another country leaving the EU does a lot to unnerve investors. For one, France leaving the organization would have major implications for the Euro currency. In the present moment in time, there is a lot of nervousness surrounding this situation. The nervousness could not be more ill-timed either, as Europe is just beginning to show signs of marked economic recovery. As we look ahead to the next few weeks the elections in France will surely remain headline news.
Protests Break Out Over Education Secretary Nomination
Also helping drive safe-haven demand on Wednesday was the fact that Betsy DeVos was officially confirmed as the next Secretary of Education in the United States. DeVos’ nomination was highly contested from the day it was announced, and she was confirmed to her new position thanks to a tie-breaker vote from Vice President Mike Pence.
Across the country on Wednesday morning, students of all ages were taking to the streets to protest this confirmation. As has been the case since the middle of January, the persistent demonstrations have done well to make investors nervous. This is, right now, continuing to play in the favor of precious metals.
US Crude Inventories on the Rise
Crude oil spot prices were on the rise again on Wednesday thanks to a report indicating that crude oil reserves in the US are on the rise. As of last week, the inventory of barrels of crude oil rose by almost 14 million barrels. A week before that, inventories increased by more than 6 million barrels.
This is currently playing in favor of gold and silver. Even though stocks across the US were falling on Wednesday, shares of energy companies were on the rise thanks to this data.
Wrap-Up
For a second consecutive day there was not much in the way of US economic data on the slate. Despite this, gold and silver managed to continue to benefit from the fact that investors across the world are still nervous. There are a lot of geopolitical happenings to take note of and a majority of people are unsure of what the future holds. As we look ahead to Thursday, the weekly jobless claims data will be carefully observed by investors who are trying to get a better idea of what the future holds for interest rates.
