Gold Spot Price Open: $1,283
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,276
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$7
Silver Spot Price Open: $17.24
Silver Spot Price Close: $17.28
Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.04
Precious metals opened the day on Monday posting minor losses, but things stabilized by the time markets in the US closed. When all was said and done, gold lost a little more than 5 dollars while silver managed to gain nearly five cents. Platinum and palladium finished the day mixed, with platinum having gained around 10 dollars while palladium lost roughly the same amount.
Stocks, the Dollar Fall on Poor Economic Data
US investors were dealt a bit of a blow this morning when some weaker than expected economic data from December of last year was reported. Surprisingly, it was reported that consumer spending throughout the month of December fell on a monthly basis. This news was so surprising not only because December is a holiday month, but also because falling crude oil prices meant that the average American household had more money to spend. According to experts, however, it is clear to see that most Americans hung on to this money as opposed to using it to have a more extravagant holiday season.
In other news from the US, it was reported via the ISM Manufacturing Index that factory output in the US also fell in December. Thanks to this recent string of sub-par economic data, a number of experts and investors are thinking that perhaps the US economy is slowing down. Of course, it is still far too early to tell for sure just how the US economy will perform this year, but recent economic data has investors increasingly curious about the long-term prospects of the US economic system.
Despite today’s data, stocks in the US did not have too poor of a day. This is thanks, in large part, to the fact that crude oil prices were reported as rising yet again today. With crude oil prices giving energy shares a lift, the day was more of a wash than anything else for US stocks. The US Dollar, on the other hand, got the week off to a poor start by losing some ground today.
Spain, Italy, Greece Bringing Europe Down With Them
It seems as though every week we are dealt a new story regarding the economic troubles plaguing Europe. This week is no exception as it was reported that poor performances on the part of Spanish and Italian equity markets translated into a day of losses for most every other European equity index. Perhaps causing the volatility being experienced by European stock markets is the fact that no one is quite sure what Greece’s new government is going to do about pre-established austerity plans.
Having been in office for barely more than a week, Greece’s new government has already made it painfully clear that it is its desire to cut ties with the existing funding arrangement organized by the European Union. With anti-austerity parties already taking foothold in Spain and Italy, it really should not come as too much of a surprise that investors are not so interested in assets from these countries. As it stands, anti-austerity beliefs have worked to further destabilize the situation in Europe. It really will be interesting to see how that region fares as the year moves forward, because right now things are not looking good at all.
Wrap-Up
All in all, it seems as though this week is going to be a good bit slower than the past 4. With that said, however, investors still have plenty to focus on, especially considering crude oil prices are seeming to gain some strength. Will gold and silver benefit from increased uncertainty across the global marketplace, or will investor interest in other asset-classes drive precious metals spot values back downward? That much we hope to find out over the course of the next four or so days.