Gold Spot Price Open: $1,332
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,290
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$42
Silver Spot Price Open: $21.79
Silver Spot Price Close: $21.21
Change in Silver Spot Price:-$0.58
As we expected yesterday, the US government did shut down today and what has ensued has not been good for gold or silver. When all was said and done, gold lost over 40 dollars while silver lost nearly 60 cents.
The US government was forced into a shutdown today due to the fact that its member could not decide on an annual budget for the next year. Unlike our perception of the New Year, the government new year begins today, October 1st, and in order for the government to be able to proceed into a new year, its funds must be approved and allocated, neither of which has happened yet.
Because no budget has been approved up to this point, non-essential government agencies were forced to shutdown, leaving many government employees without a paycheck. Ironically, however, the very people who cannot decide on a budget still retain their pay.
The world marketplace has seen risk-aversion for a majority of the day, which explains why gold and silver have suffered such massive losses. Though the government shutdown is only expected to be a temporary one, it will have a large impact nonetheless.
Adding to everyones’ worries regarding the US government is the fact that the borrowing limit for the US government will be reached within a week or two. This scenario also requires a lot of government synergy, something we have not seen as of late.
An Italian government scandal also graced the spotlight today, though the US budget issue took most of the attention. Keep your eyes fixated on all major news outlets during the comping days as it is more than likely we will hear some sort of resolution to this budget crisis.
