Gold Spot Price Open: $1,259
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,254
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$5
Silver Spot Price Open: $19.45
Silver Spot Price Close: $19.54
Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.09
Gold and silver experienced mixed results today as markets that were in free fall a day ago have since began to correct themselves. When all was said and done, gold lost about 5 dollars while silver was able to gain closer to ten cents.
Following the lead of US equities a day ago, European and Asian stocks sold off at a considerable rate today. The hardest-hit of all markets was Japan, as their Nikkei Index was recorded as being down over 4%. This worldwide stock sell off that took place first in the US and has since expanded is being directly linked to the poor ISM manufacturing data released yesterday.
Not helping equity markets at all is the fact that investors are still somewhat apprehensive about emerging markets. Though places like Turkey and South Africa have calmed down in comparison to last week, these markets are not out of the woods quite yet and are still being pressured from a variety of different factors. As equities continue to sell off, investors are more readily being convinced that the bullish world stock market we have grown accustomed to is finally dwindling and on its way out.
Important pieces of economic data due out later this week include the weekly jobless claims report as well as January’s employment report. Since December’s report came in significantly weaker than what was expected, investors will be heavily scrutinizing it this time around.
Chinese investors are still, for the most part, celebrating the Lunar New Year and will be out of commission for the next week or so. Their collective return will be of the utmost importance as recent economic data suggests the Chinese economy may be on the verge of slowing down considerably.
