Gold Spot Price Open: $1,340
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,307
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$33
Silver Spot Price Open: $21.52
Silver Spot Price Close: $20.95
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.57
Precious metals traded down across the board on a day where profit-taking abounded and risk-appetite picked up. When all was said and done, gold lost more than 30 dollars while silver traded down by nearly 60 cents. Platinum and palladium experienced significant losses on Monday as well.
Gold, Silver Hit Hard After Recent Gains
Gold and silver spot values moved downward today, fueled by heavy long liquidation that was only made worse once sell-stops were triggered. After rallying to nearly $1,350/ounce a week ago, gold fell back down to near $1,300 levels shortly after US markets opened today and remained there. Now, investors are wondering if gold and silver will be able to recover over the next few days or if today’s losses will undo recent uptrends. Should spot values rebound through the middle part of the week, this may suggest that metals can continue to edge higher moving forward. If selling pressure continues, however, it would come as no surprise to see gold and silver spot values stagnate or even lose momentum altogether over the next few weeks. For these reasons and more, price movement of gold and silver during the forthcoming days will be especially important to investors and market analysts alike.
One sign that does not bode well for gold and silver is the recent nosedive seen by the Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI). While metals were able to withstand the downturn of the raw commodity sector a week ago, today it seems as though the story is a bit different and that last week’s pressure has finally been able to catch up with gold and silver.
Lack of Noteworthy Developments Fuels Increased Risk-Appetite
A lack of any noteworthy developments on the geopolitical front today allowed investor risk-appetite to perk up a bit. As you could have probably guessed, the somewhat renewed risk-appetite exhibited by investors was a major part of the reason metals had such a difficult time today.
With that said, however, a few ongoing situations capable of reviving safe-haven demand are still sitting on the back burner of the marketplace’s attention. Included among these situations are the Iraqi civil war, the continued Israeli offensive aimed at Gaza, tensions between Russia and Ukraine, and the ever-looming sovereign debt crisis across the EU. If any of these situations are the focal point of more attention, safe-haven gold and silver very well might benefit once more.
This week is not expected to play host to much economic data, but that is not a problem as investors are already preoccupied with speculating about what Janet Yellen will say to Congress in her addresses on Tuesday and Wednesday. After last week’s FOMC minutes offered nothing in the way of new information with regard to if and when interest rates in the US will be raised, investors are hoping the next two days will.
US Stocks Rebound, Dollar Little Changed
US equity markets performed significantly better today than they did towards the end of last week. Banco Espirito Santo, Portugal’s second-largest bank and recent source of financial instability worries, made moves over the weekend to quell investor fears and restore a sense of calm in the market.
US stocks were also fueled by a flurry of merger activity over the weekend and an upbeat CitiGroup earnings report. More corporate earnings will be made public this week and stand the chance of moving US equity markets in some capacity.
Wrap-Up
Just like last week, this 5-day trading session is not expected to play host to many pieces of noteworthy economic data. At this juncture, Janet Yellen’s addresses to Congress are taking up a large portion of investor attention and will likely continue to do so until the end of the day on Wednesday. We will continue to keep an eye on each and every ongoing geopolitical flash point, as they will undoubtedly continue developing over the next few days.
