Gold Spot Price Open: $1,180
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,178
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$2
Silver Spot Price Open: $15.85
Silver Spot Price Close: $15.95
Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.10
Precious metals finished the day mixed, but both gold and silver remain below key price thresholds. When all was said and done on Tuesday, gold lost about two dollars while silver managed to gain a dime. Platinum and palladium finished the day in almost the exact same positions that they were in when markets opened.
Revised GDP Data Adds to Upbeat US Economic Outlook
If you can remember, all throughout the winter we heard story after story of less than stellar economic data coming from the United States. Despite lofty expectations for a lot of growth throughout 2015, the first few months offered up anything but that. Though most people were quick to blame harsh winter weather, others believed that perhaps economic growth expectations previously made public were far too lofty and idealistic.
Today, however, we received upbeat news as the Commerce Department revised their reading on GDP growth over the course of January to March. Despite GDP growth being recorded as down .7%, today’s revision showed that the actual shrinkage was to the tune of only .2%. A nice move forward is expected for the April-June reading on US GDP, and it is expected that US economic data will continue along this expected uptrend as the duration of the year plays out.
A few weeks ago, this data might have had investors the world over that interest rate hikes would be coming immediately, but we now know that the Fed is more interested in taking a cautious approach to interest rate hikes.
Gold Suffering From Lack of Fundamental Push
Gold finished the day near a 3-week low and both the yellow metal and silver continue to suffer this week from a lack of fundamental news spurring buying. Now, with technical selling dominating the marketplace, it will not come as much of a surprise if gold and silver continue to slip throughout the last few days of the week.
The continued focus on Greece is dominating the headlines this week, but there really isn’t much going on in that arena, so we have really been seeing a quiet week. We seem to be right in the thick of the summer doldrums, and as is often the case, they are taking a toll on spot values. The last few days of the week are not expected to emit any major news stories, but investors will definitely take an interest in tomorrow’s weekly jobless claims report. Recent readings on weekly jobless claims have been right in line with expectations and have also been generally upbeat, so most people are expecting that trend to continue.
Wrap-Up
Looking ahead to the last few days of the week, there really isn’t much to look forward to. With there being less than a week left in the month of June, it really is crunch time for Greece and their negotiating team. Though creditors are still trying to hammer out a lasting deal from Greece’s most recent proposal to restructure debt repayments–something that would unlock billions of dollars in bailout funds–that deal being finalized does not look likely at this point. Though most are expecting a quiet end to this week, a major development with regard to the Greece situation could alter that.
