Gold Spot Price Open: $1,071
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,064
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$7
Silver Spot Price Open: $14.03
Silver Spot Price Close: $13.99
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.04
Precious metals moved downward on Wednesday amid a continuously quiet trading atmosphere. When all was said and done on Wednesday, gold lost another 7 dollars while silver fell another four cents. Platinum and palladium both suffered losses on Wednesday as well, with platinum moving downward by 17 dollars while palladium fell by close to ten.
US Pending Home Sales Fall During November
After last week’s batch of mostly disappointing housing data from the United States, it did not help that Wednesday yielded yet another downbeat batch of data. This time, it was the pending home sales report from November that came back far weaker than anticipated. According to the data, November pending home sales fell by .9% when compared to the same figure recorded in October. This suggests, to some, that the housing market in the United States is definitely losing momentum.
In response to today’s weak report, the National Association of Realtors made it clear that figures are dipping due to a shortage of homes and rising prices. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR, said, “Home prices rising too sharply in several markets, mixed signs of an economy losing momentum and waning supply levels have acted as headwinds in recent months despite low mortgage rates and solid job gains. While feedback from Realtors continues to suggest healthy levels of buyer interest, available listings that are move-in ready and in affordable price ranges remain hard to come by for many would-be buyers.” With the cost of owning a home only likely to increase alongside interest rates, the real question is whether the housing market will ever present a situation where there are enough homes for sale that prices can begin to tick downward.
Of all housing market reports, this pending home sales report is the most important and is often referred to as the most accurate gauge for the health of the overall housing situation in the country. With a lag of one to two months between when a house is entered into contract and when it is actually sold, this piece of data offers a more realistic view of the whole market.
Ruble Hits Yearly Low, Russian Economy In Trouble
By most conservative standards, 2015 is shaping up to be a year to forget as far as the Russian economy is concerned. Today it was reported that the Ruble currency has sunk to its lowest position in a year against the US Dollar. The reason for this decline is mostly due to the fact that the price of crude oil exports from the country are continuing to fall, thus negatively affecting the overall GDP.
Dropping more than 1% today alone, the Ruble is now down more than 20% from this time a year ago. Still suffering the effects of Western-imposed sanctions as a result of Russia’s alleged involvement in the annexation of Crimea and other Ukrainian conflicts, the Russian economy has moved downward at most points throughout the past year. With the crude oil market continuing to lag the future looks just as bleak for Russia as the present.
Wrap-Up
This was yet another slow day across the global marketplace as investment activity was light across the board. As people gear up for the New Years holiday, which is held tomorrow evening and through Friday, activity will only grow lighter. Next week and the week that follows it, however, are likely to be action-packed thanks to the release of countless year-end economic reports. In addition to the hard data that will be made public, investors will also be looking for forecasts tied to what experts expect from certain economies in 2016. Though this week may be a bit lackluster, the next few weeks are shaping up to be anything but that.
