Gold Spot Price Open: $1,174
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,158
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$16
Silver Spot Price Open: $15.83
Silver Spot Price Close: $15.10
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.73
Precious metals moved considerably lower all day Tuesday and finished the day near multi-month lows. When all was said and done, gold lost more than fifteen dollars while silver accumulated losses of more than 70 cents. Platinum and palladium both finished the day down by more than 25 dollars.
Outside Markets Pound Precious Metals
There wasn’t all that much going on across the global marketplace on Tuesday, but that oft-repeating theme has played a major role in precious metals’ steady decline over the past few weeks. Gold and silver are now in the middle of a poor run of form and this much is only serving to drive potential investors away. On top of that, today’s higher USD Index and lower crude oil prices packed a one-two punch that was always going to drive spot values lower. The main focus of the week remains on Greek and EU/IMF debt negotiations, but that much has had a limited affect on spot values as of late.
Being that we are in the summer, the slow data stream should surprise no one, but it is surprising that metals cannot seem to find even one upbeat news story to propel themselves forward. With some luck, this whole Greece situation may provide some aid for spot values, but for now investors will be left to keep a close eye on prices as they inch lower and lower by the day.
Greek Uncertainty May Force Fed Hand
All of hte turmoil happening in Greece may seem worlds away, but it stands the chance of having a pretty big impact here at home. Some analysts are saying that all of the uncertainty and stress being created by Greece’s financial and economic woes may end up preventing the Fed from hiking interest rates in the immediate future. The reason for this being that all the uncertainty across Europe is causing a spike on the part of the USD; something that makes exports more expensive and thus less likely to be purchased. If European economies are struggling and the Euro currency is increasingly called into question, the prevailing belief is that the USD will only grow in strength further. The manufacturing industry is being hurt by the decrease in exports and this burgeoning situation has the power to force the Fed to remain put with regard to interest rates.
For gold and silver, this may end up being good news as any further delays to the hiking of interest rates will almost assuredly come to the aid of spot values. Right now, however, the fact that people still believe rates are going to be hiked in conjunction with all the uncertainty across Europe is putting gold into a tug-of-war. As metals cannot really move forward, technical sellers are dominating the marketplace and have been driving spot values downward. The next few weeks are shaping up to be telling for gold and silver, and very well might influence the next trend put forth by the two metals.
Wrap-Up
A relatively slow day across the global marketplace, Tuesday did not bring about much in the way of groundbreaking developments. Greek debt negotiations are continuing, but as has been the case all along very few people are expecting fruitful results. It will be interesting to see if gold and silver will be able to bounce back tomorrow thanks to bargain-hunting, but even more interesting to see if metals can sometime soon revert this intensifying downtrend. As we approach the midpoint of the week, I expect that the main focus will continue to be everything that is happening in Greece, regardless of how small or seemingly insignificant.
