Gold Spot Price Open: $1,264
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,271
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$7
Silver Spot Price Open: $17.10
Silver Spot Price Close: $17.23
Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.13
Precious metals may not have performed as well on Thursday as they did on Wednesday, but what movement was recorded was still solidly upward. When all was said and done, gold managed to gain close to 8 dollars while silver posted gains of more than 20 cents yet again. Platinum and palladium both pulled back on the day, but neither metal lost much more than 5 dollars.
Safe-haven Buying Boosts Metals
The story on Thursday was not very different for precious metals as an increased number of investors seek both gold and silver for their safe-haven qualities. With so many people convinced that interest rate hikes may now be more than 2 months away, there is a mad scramble to alter investment paths. Now, the safe-haven qualities presented by precious metals seem much more attractive now that most people have become convinced that interest rates are staying put. Before, when interest rate hikes were expected in the near future, people were ditching safe-haven metals investments in search of potentially better-performing investments elsewhere. We are now seeing that course of action reversed and that, in a way, explains gold and silver’s resurgence this week.
Also helping precious metals today was the fact that most US and European equity markets moved lower. US stocks were looking to extend this week’s rally, but today’s pullback assuredly put an end to that thought. Even despite today’s pullback, stocks in the US and Europe have been performing well and it is not exactly looking like that will change in any great hurry. That is, of course, assuming interest rates do end up staying put come this time next week.
Oil, Natural Gas Shake Up the Marketplace
Though there were not many fresh pieces of fundamental data made public on Thursday, investors did notice that natural gas and crude oil inventories were reported as being less than predicted. According to one report, supplies of natural gas are not as abundant as predicted and this, in-turn, boosted the commodity’s spot value noticeably on Thursday.
Crude oil, on the other hand, saw its recent rally brought to a halt on a bit of a corrective pullback. Still, supply disruptions abound and are actively helping keep the commodity’s spot value elevated. In addition to this, reports this week showed that US crude oil stockpiles are not as plentiful as they were a few weeks ago, and this too plays in the favor of oil’s spot value. As we head further into this new month of June you can bet that there will be continued attention paid to the crude oil and natural gas markets as they very much affect how gold and silver perform. Right now crude oil is sitting near 2016 highs, but there is a strong feeling that this will change as soon as these supply disruptions fade to the back-burner.
Wrap-Up
The latter part of this week has thus far proven to be lackluster and devoid of any real markets-moving data. Investors are eager for next week’s FOMC meeting, but with interest rate hikes not expected to be announced, even this meeting has lost a bit of its luster. Looking ahead to the final trading day of the week, it will be interesting to see how gold and silver perform. If gains are posted again on Friday, this may be the best week for metals we have witnessed in over 2 months. That much, however, remains to be seen.
