Gold Spot Price Open: $1,190
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,194
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$4
Silver Spot Price Open: $16.57
Silver Spot Price Close: $16.61
Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.04
Precious metals continued Monday’s move upward on Tuesday and managed to add some value by the time markets closed. When all was said and done, gold gained close to five dollars while silver improved by almost 5 cents. Platinum and palladium gained today too, but palladium was the bigger winner, having picked up close to 15 dollars.
Crude Oil Quietly Gains
Though we haven’t spoken about it all that much, crude oil has recently been on a rally of sorts. After falling to historic lows no more than 2 or so months ago, investors are somewhat surprised to see crude oil slowly but surely march its way back to respectable levels. Just today, oil eclipsed $60/barrel and is looking like it is going to continue to move forward. As it stands, the commodity is sitting near a 4-month high. For gold and silver, crude oil making gains is great because it more often than not means that metals will receive buying interest as well.
Something to keep an eye on, however, is the development and progress of Iranian nuclear talks. Though official talks will not happen again until sometime this summer, the situation is constantly under the watchful eye of the market. The reason this is such a big deal for the crude oil market is because, if a deal with Iran is reached, many believe now-embargoed Iranian oil will hit Western markets for the first time in a long time, adding more oil to an already glutted supply. With that said, a deal is still far from a reality at the present moment in time.
News from Asia, Oceania
In news from the overnight hours, it was reported that the Australian Central Bank decided to slash interest rates at a meeting on Tuesday. The overall interest rate in the country now sits at a record low 2% while the Australian economy struggles to gain a solid foothold this year. Still, the move made by Australia’s central bank was not perceived as overly shocking and, as such, the global marketplace did not offer up much of a reaction.
Don’t look now, but Indian may soon help push spot values higher. A recent report said that, in the coming few months, demand for gold from Indian will be on the rise dramatically due to a number of different factors. Cited in the report was a new amendment to government law that will severely limit the tariffs placed on imported gold. Add this to the fact that spot values have been subdued for quite some time and you have a June and July that is looking like it will be great for precious metals. Of course, with that said, it is going to take much more than increased physical purchases to keep spot values on the up and up for any extended period of time.
Wrap-Up
Like Monday, Tuesday was a fairly quiet day across the global marketplace. In news from Europe, producer prices were reported as having risen during April by .2%. This news failed to have much of an impact on the marketplace. As we look ahead to the middle day of the week and beyond, you can expect that the collective attention of the marketplace will begin to slowly but surely focus on Friday’s April employment report. As it stands, the general consensus is for an increase in non-farm payrolls of around 220,000.