Gold Spot Price Open: $1,271
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,282
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$11
Silver Spot Price Open: $21.21
Silver Spot Price Close: $21.47
Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.26
Gold and silver made small, positive gains on confirmation of yesterday’s rumors which claimed Congress was close to reaching an agreement on the budget and/or the debt ceiling. When markets closed, gold gained about 11 dollars on the day while silver gained a little more than a quarter of a dollar.
Gold and silver spot values, along with most other markets, increased in value on the news that a budget was more or less agreed upon and the debt ceiling had been raised. In the wake of this news, the US Dollar declined in value which paved the perfect pathway for precious metals to gain back some of the losses they have posted over the past 16 days or so.
Though a budget has seemingly been agreed upon and the debt ceiling is about to be raised, it is important to note that these agreements are temporary. The agreement in regards to the debt ceiling will see the US only able to borrow money up until February 7th, at which point Congress will once again have to make a decision about the debt ceiling. Similarly, the prospective budget only allocates enough funds to support government operations until January 15th. This means that in only a few months we stand the chance to see a brand new type of government debacle eerily similar to the one we have experienced over the past two weeks.
The New York Times is reporting that even though the shutdown and debt ceiling crises are essentially behind us, their impacts are going to be felt in the immediate and long-term future. As the New York Times explains, the 2-week shutdown is very likely going to hurt US 4th quarter growth. For this reason, many investors are hoping that precious metals will see a corrective pullback from its 2+ week downtrend. It will be interesting to see how the next few days pan out and whether or not gold and silver will continue along their path to making up for the past two week’s losses.