Gold Spot Price Open: $1,110
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,104
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$6
Silver Spot Price Open: $14.91
Silver Spot Price Close: $14.88
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.03
Gold and silver continued their respective slides on Tuesday, even after the insanely large drop witnessed on Monday. When all was said and done, gold lost another 6 dollars and crept ever closer to the $1,100/ounce threshold while silver lost only a few pennies, solidifying its stay below the $15 mark. Platinum and palladium managed to creep back upwards on Tuesday, with palladium having gained more than $20 on the day.
Metals Continue to Slide on Lack of Fundamentally Bullish Inputs
Most often, when a metal’s spot value takes a massive slide during one trading session, bargain-hunting and other factors typically come in the next day to help the metals regain some of what was lost. This time, however, quieter markets a day after it was reported that Chinese citizens were ridding themselves of gold holdings only continued to work against the spot values of both gold and silver. In all reality, metals are simply continuing to suffer because of a lack of any bullish news. With interest rate hikes on the horizon and the US Dollar at its strongest point in months, it is hard for metals to gain much of any traction.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, I have a hard time believing this will change as corporate earnings reports are due out, most of which are expected to be upbeat in nature. According to Indian commodities expert Ravindra Rao, “Aside from the weak fundamental picture, technicals also point toward bearishness in the metal. Gold has penetrated the strong support of $1,128 an ounce, a neckline support of a ‘head and shoulder’ pattern.” Basically, though the metal has fallen far already, there is no reason to believe that this slide will magically be stopped without some outside help.
Dollar Drops from Multi-Month Highs
Today, the US Dollar took a bit of a backwards step from multi-month highs recorded to begin the week. These losses are mostly being attributed to profit-taking after recent gains, as the Dollar continues to remain in high standing against most other global currencies. With this week expected to bring in a boatload of corporate earnings reports from the second quarter of 2015, it will be interesting to see how the greenback reacts.
Early expectations are for an upbeat slate of earnings reports, but we know all too well that expectations are rarely lived up to in this turbulent marketplace. Still, with interest rate hikes expected to come before we even get to the Autumn months, it is hard to envision the Dollar backing too far from its current standing.
Wrap-Up
All in all, today was a generally quiet day across the global marketplace as investors gear up for this heavy slate of earnings reports. For gold and silver, the situation remains the same today as it has been for the past few weeks. As it stands, metals are in desperate need of some sort of bullish news capable of halting this current slide. Some economists and experts are predicting that gold’s spot value may soon threaten to fall underneath the $1,000/ounce threshold, but that much remains to be seen. Apart from earnings reports, it is looking like the rest of this week will be fairly uneventful form an economic data standpoint.
