Gold Spot Price Open: $1,237
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,233
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$4
Silver Spot Price Open: $18.85
Silver Spot Price Close: $18.73
Change in Silver Spot Price:-$0.12
After beginning the day edging higher, precious metals finished trading on Wednesday having suffered minor losses. When all was said and done, gold lost around 4 dollars while silver was down by more than ten cents. Platinum and palladium spot values also finished the day trending downward ever so slightly.
FOMC Meeting Offers Little Clue Regarding Rate Changes
The biggest, most noteworthy happening of the week came today in the form of the conclusion of the latest Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting. Though the monthly FOMC meeting is always of utmost importance to investors, this time around was perhaps more important than any other FOMC meeting in recent history. The reason for this was due to the fact that many investors from around the world were hoping to hear the Fed offer more insight into when and by how much interest rates in the United States would be risen.
As expected, however, the FOMC maintained the same language, saying there is still “considerable time” before rates are going to be raised. This news eased some of the selling pressure being felt by precious metals over the last few weeks, but with rate hikes still expected at some point down the road, there is no saying whether spot gold and silver will be able to recover any of the value that has been lost in recent weeks. The Feds overall outlook on the strength of the US economy improved a bit, but not by much.
US Equities Up On Fed Statement
The fact that the Fed plans on keeping its key interest rate at a record low for “considerable time” gave US equities a bit of a boost today. In fact, equities from the United States have been performing decently well for a little over a day now, as many investors made their moves early in anticipation of a more cautious Fed.
The US Dollar was also able to pick up some value on a day where the USD Index fluctuated in both directions quite a bit. As the Euro continues to be weakened as a result of the ECB’s more accommodative monetary policies, the Dollar will continue to gain strength.
Wrap-Up
Looking ahead to tomorrow, the attention of the market will shift to Scotland where their vote on independence will finally be taking place. The preliminary polls have been fairly evenly split in the lead-up to tomorrow’s vote, so there is really no surefire way of telling whether Scotland will become independent or remain part of the United Kingdom. More than just a political matter, the vote will have a lasting impact on both the economies of the UK and the EU.
In addition to the focus on Scotland, we will continue to take in and analyze investor reaction to the latest FOMC meeting. Because many investors overseas and in other parts of the world have not yet gotten a chance to see what the FOMC had to say, you can expect some delayed reaction to filter in over the course of tomorrow and Friday.
