Gold Spot Price Open: $1,297
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,291
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$6
Silver Spot Price Open: $19.58
Silver Spot Price Close: $19.25
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.33
Gold and silver continued to feel pressure on Wednesday in the wake of both the 1st-quarter US GDP report and the latest FOMC meeting/post-meeting statement. When all was said and done, gold lost a little more than five dollars while silver’s losses came in at just more than 30 cents.
The outcome of the FOMC meeting was yet another $10 billion reduction to the Quantitative Easing monetary policy, though this move was widely expected by investors and ended up having a marginal impact on the marketplace. If anything, this week’s FOMC meeting and tapering decision worked to put more pressure on spot values.
Before the FOMC meeting came to an end this afternoon, the 1st-quarter GDP report was made public and shocked a lot of investors. Compared to year on year GDP growth expectations of more than 1%, the months of January through March of this year only saw a .1% year on year GDP improvement. Despite widespread expectations that a weaker GDP report would fuel gold and silver buying, such was not the case as most investors simply held their positions in preparation for the FOMC meeting’s conclusion.
In the EU, which has been dealing with concerns regarding deflation, it was reported that inflation levels had risen in April. While the inflation rise was not as significant as anticipated, it is welcomed nonetheless.
The week is not over as far as economic data is concerned as a key Chinese manufacturing report is due out tomorrow, followed by the US Labor Department’s employment report for April on Friday. What’s more, the situation in Ukraine is still far from resolved and will remain a focal point of marketplace attention for the foreseeable future.
