Gold Spot Price Open: $1,260
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,243
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$17
Silver Spot Price Open: $20.15
Silver Spot Price Close: $20.03
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.12
Precious metals fared poorly for yet another day on Thursday as the marketplace was, for the most part, continuing to focus on yesterday’s bearish FOMC minutes. When all was said and done, gold lost about 17 dollars and silver declined by a little over a dime, finishing barely above the $20 threshold.
Apart from the continued focus on the FOMC minutes from yesterday, investors were dealt some Chinese economic data in the form of November’s preliminary HSBC manufacturing report. The data yielded a reading of 50.4 for November, down from October’s reading of 50.9. Any reading above 50 is indicative of a healthy economy, though it must be said that today’s weaker reading ended up being yet another bearish factor for gold and silver.
In case you missed it, yesterday’s FOMC minutes concluded that many members of the Fed are in favor of tapering QE sooner rather than later. In addition to that, many of those same members agree that the current rate of economic growth is “moderate”, exhibited by the stronger than expected economic reports we have seen as of late. Though the FOMC minutes did not provide any concrete outline for the tapering of QE, a lot of people are looking towards the upcoming December FOMC meeting or a meeting sometime in early 2014 as possible dates. Despite a majority of FOMC members in favor of a more immediate tapering of QE, many investors are confident that it would not be wise to taper until the unemployment rate declines further. If these past few days are any indication of what the next couples weeks are going to be like, prepare for an onslaught of speculation regarding QE’s future.
