Gold Spot Price Open: $1,141
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,129
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$12
Silver Spot Price Open: $14.72
Silver Spot Price Close: $14.20
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.52
Precious metals backed down again on Wednesday as stocks and the US Dollar performed decently after a tumultuous start to the week. When all was said and done, gold lost more than ten dollars while silver lost over a half dollar. Platinum finished the day about unchanged while palladium ticked downward to the tune of about ten dollars.
Dollar Perks Up On Unexpected Economic Data
The US economy emitted more upbeat data on Wednesday on the back of an unexpectedly positive report from the US economy. According to the US Commerce Department, orders for durable goods from US manufacturers moved upward by a noticeable margin during the month of July. The report outlined that orders for durable goods were up by 2%, and revised June’s reading to up over 4%. Considering expectations were for a rise in July durable goods orders of less than one half of one percent, it is easy to see why investors are responding positively to today’s data. Thanks to this report, the US Dollar managed to make gains against almost all of its major rivals.
Moving forward this week, investors will have the preliminary second-quarter GDP report from the US as well as the weekly jobless claims reports to contend with. Recent weekly jobless claims reports have been upbeat, so investors are expecting much of the same tomorrow. With regard to the reading on preliminary GDP, however, just about anything can happen and investors are prepared for that.
Gold, Silver Unable to Establish Direction
When metals posted a few gains over consecutive days to finish last week, there were a few investors who were under the impression that perhaps things were shifting in the favor of metals. Quickly, however, the early parts of this week have illustrated that it is most definitely still a bearish market for precious metals. All the volatility we have witnessed recently may lead one to believe that safe-haven demand will begin pushing spot values upward, many market experts agree that there is simply too much going on across the global marketplace for gold and silver to be able to gain any real semblance of a footing.
While one day market activity may drive investors to the safe-haven qualities of gold and silver, upbeat economic data a day later has pushed spot values right back downward. Thanks to all of this volatility, it is tough for investors to pin their ears back and cling tight to a precious metals investment. Add all of this to the fact that interest rate hike speculation won’t go away and you have a marketplace that is constantly having its attention whipped around. Once things calm down, if things calm down anytime soon, we may be able to gain a clearer picture of just what the future holds for metals. For now, however, it is really tough to envision gold and silver spot values appreciating too dramatically anytime soon; the buying interest simply isn’t there.
Wrap-Up
Looking ahead to the last few days of the week, Thursday is already shaping up to be quite busy. All eyes of the investing world will be placed upon the release of the weekly jobless claims report, but investors will also want to pay attention to preliminary GDP data as well. For now, gold and silver are reeling thanks to gains on the part of US stocks and the greenback today. While it will definitely be an interesting last two days of the week, it is looking like gold and silver may continue to trend downward barring any shocking economic data or market developments.
