Gold Spot Price Open: $1,187
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,180
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$7
Silver Spot Price Open: $16.21
Silver Spot Price Close: $15.91
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.30
Precious metals took a bit of a dive on Tuesday on news of a possible deal being reached between Greece and its IMF/EU creditors. When all was said and done, gold lost close to 7 dollars while silver’s losses eclipsed 30 cents. Platinum and palladium moved forward today, but neither metal made gains too much greater than 5 dollars.
Athens Reacts Angrily to Proposed Greece Deal
Yesterday, we briefly touched on a new debt-refinancing plan proposed by Greece over the weekend. Today, however, the news circulating around the marketplace was one concerning anger over the proposed deal. Lawmakers and government officials from Athens spoke out today, saying that Greece’s proposal was too accommodative for IMF and EU creditors. In addition, lawmakers claimed that even with the new concessions, a deal is still unlikely to be reached.
The sentiment from EU and IMF creditors, on the other hand, was one of optimism as they agreed that Greece’s proposal laid down a nice foundation for a lasting deal to be reached. If the two adversaries are able to see eye-to-eye, Greece will have effectively unlocked billions of dollars’ worth of much-needed bailout funds.
While we did see generally mixed reactions from both sides, it is clear to see that investors from around the world are also sharing in the optimism of a deal potentially being reached. Today saw equity markets in Europe and the US tick upward. Of course, the reaction was most positive on the part of European equities. As we move through the duration of the week, it will be interesting to see what comes of this new Greek refinancing proposal. The rest of this week will be pivotal for Greece as it seems, at this point, that we will find out for certain whether a deal is going to be reached or not. If a deal isn’t established this week, the prevailing belief is that Greece will face an inevitable exit from the European Union.
Home Sales Surge in May
A report from the Commerce Department released today indicated that home sales in the United States during the month of May rose at a pace not seen in quite some time. In particular, home sales in the Northeast and Western United States were particularly upbeat.
Officially, new home sales rose during May by more than 2%, bringing the seasonally adjusted annual rate to nearly 550,000. With the employment sector improving over the course of the past 6 or 7 months, it is not coming as much of a surprise that new home sales are doing so well. Of course, as you might expect, improving home sales in conjunction with an improving labor market is only working to convince investors that interest rates will be hiked before the end of the year, despite the recently expressed feelings of the Fed.
As the housing market only continues to improve in the United States, it is thought that many other aspects of the economy will improve right alongside it. Currently, the US is beginning to emit some consistently positive economic numbers, and that much has done gold and silver no favors whatsoever. In fact, today was a double-dip of poor news for precious metals as neither improved housing data nor a potential deal being reached in Europe are able to spur safe-haven demand.
Wrap-Up
Though you could probably guess this much, the rest of the week will undoubtedly see the marketplace continue to focus on the progress of Greece’s negotiations. A lot of optimism with regard to this new proposal is being expressed, but it is important to realize that this isn’t the first time the market was optimistic about Greece and creditors reaching a deal. While I think this will be a telling week as far as the whole situation is concerned, I am not so certain that we are going to see a deal be reached.
