Gold Spot Price Open: $1,224
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,219
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$5
Silver Spot Price Open: $15.26
Silver Spot Price Close: $15.24
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.02
Precious metals extended their losses on Friday despite most major marketplaces being closed in observance of the Easter weekend holiday, specifically Good Friday. When all was said and done, gold moved downward by another few dollars while silver accumulated losses of about 2 cents. Platinum and palladium were both also down on the day, by roughly 10 dollars apiece.
US GDP Revised Higher
Despite most people being away from the marketplace on Friday, there was some interesting US economic data dealt. According to the US Commerce Department, the United States economy grew by an annualized rate of 1.4% during the 4th quarter of 2015. This news sent the Dollar even higher and more or less guaranteed that precious metals would end the week on a sour note. What today’s data also does is lend credence to James Bullard’s comments earlier in the week. On Tuesday, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve James Bullard called for the next interest rate hike in the US to take place in April.
After today’s GDP data, Bullard’s sentiments may end up being echoed by investors both in the US and elsewhere around the world. According to Alexander Losev, chief executive officer at Sputnik Asset Management, “The revised data so far only increase the probability of a rate hike in the middle of the year. The rhetoric at the April meeting may turn more hawkish, further fueling speculation.”
For gold and silver, another rate hike happening in April would mean that spot values very well might continue along their downward trend. Of course, with all of this being said, it was clear at March’s FOMC meeting that the Fed does not intend on rushing any further rate hikes just for the sake of hiking rates. This is especially true given the state of the global economy at present.
What to Look Forward to
In the absence of any other real markets-moving news, it is good to talk about what we might be able to expect from the last week of March trading. For one, the US Dollar, which made some nice gains this week, will continued to be eyed. If investors really do begin to believe that an April rate hike is possible, there is no saying how far the greenback may move forward. Of course, this is less than appealing news for precious metals investors.
Crude oil is another interesting topic to ponder. After the US reported stockpiles of oil this week that more than tripled expectations, it is clearer than ever that there is a supply-glut going on. With OPEC being able to do almost nothing to prevent that glut from growing, there are many who believe that oil has no other place to go than further downward.
Wrap-Up
All in all, this makes 2 consecutive weeks where both gold and silver ended up in a worse position Friday than they were in when markets opened on Monday. With the US Dollar performing so well and interest rate hike talk picking back up, this should not come as much of a surprise. What will be interesting to see, however, is whether spot values that have been driven down over the past five days will yield any real bargain-hunting buying. Next week, being the last week of the month, will likely yield some important bits of economic data, so it will be important for investors to be fully in-tune to close out the month.
