Gold Spot Price Open: $1,275
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,277
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$2
Silver Spot Price Open: $17.16
Silver Spot Price Close: $17.12
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.04
Precious metals began the week slowly on a day where there weren’t many fresh talking points. When all was said and done, gold gained about two dollars while silver ended the day having lost roughly 4 cents. Platinum and palladium both didn’t have great starts to the week either, as neither metal moved too far from where it began the day.
Weak Chinese Data Keeps Stocks Subdued
For much of this year the tone of Chinese economic data has been anything but upbeat. Though performing much better than most other major economies, the Chinese are still witnessing economic growth that is some of the slowest we have seen in a decade or more. Over the weekend an additional batch of poor data was dealt and stocks reacted by beginning the week mostly lower.
Industrial production in China was reported as having improved by 6% on an annualized basis in April. This data was viewed as disappointing mostly because March’s reading showed industrial production as being up by nearly 7% on an annualized basis. March’s data being better than that of April’s makes investors think that China has taken a step backwards.
In addition to the weaker industrial production numbers from April, China also reported weaker than expected retail sales figures. Officially, April’s retail sales were reported as being up by 10%, a number that is smaller than what was expected.
Though this weekend’s Chinese economic data does well to push stocks downward, gold and silver ended up having a rough day on Monday thanks to us equities rallying towards the day’s conclusion. In many ways, this Monday saw precious metals get off to a start that is none too dissimilar than what occurred 7 days ago.
Crude Oil Begins Week Positively
Something that did catch the attention of investors the world over was a statement from Goldman Sachs claiming that the once over supplied crude oil market is now facing a shortage.
Though it may seem difficult to believe, recent production cuts from places like Canada and Nigeria have seen the supply glut we have been contending with for years evaporate in front of our eyes. In a quick period of time, crude oil is once again on the up and up. With all this being said, it is very much a reality that crude oil being in short supply is something that won’t be the case forever. Before long, Nigeria and Canada will both be outputting oil in normal daily quantities and the market will once again likely become oversupplied.
For this reason primarily, we are seeing the spot value of crude oil having a tough time breaking the $50/barrel mark. This key point of resistance was always going to be tough to break through, and it seems as though spot prices will remain below it for the time being. Still, crude oil’s start to the week has helped precious metals and may continue to do exactly that going forward through this week.
Wrap-Up
All in all, Monday saw gold and silver bounce around quite a bit during the day. After gaining in the morning, metals lost a lot of value during the midday hours before ending the day having made small gains. As we look ahead to Tuesday and the rest of the week, there is not all that much markets-moving economic data expected. Of course, Thursday’s weekly jobless claims report is going to be called into focus, but other than that there is not much for investors to directly focus on.
