Gold Spot Price Open: $1,289
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,287
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$2
Silver Spot Price Open: $19.24
Silver Spot Price Close: $19.20
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.04
Gold and silver are both trading down on the final day of what has shaped up to be an interesting 5-day trading session. When all was said and done, gold lost about two dollars while silver accumulated losses closer to five cents. As it stands, gold is down well below the $1,300 level while silver is quickly approaching an even $19/ounce.
The crisis in Ukraine is once again attracting most of the marketplace’s attention as we once more head into an uncertain weekend. Violence between pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian military is continuing to rage on as the death toll is continuing to grow. On Sunday, a referendum is scheduled that will essentially decide the fate of another part of eastern Ukraine. The referendum is still expected to go on as planned despite Vladimir Putin calling for the rebels to postpone it. Safe-haven demand for gold and silver was surging forward in the early parts of this morning, but the tables turned midday and ended up forcing metals to give back the marginal gains they made in the morning.
The US Dollar is not doing gold and silver any favors as of late either. Though the greenback has been feeling pressure for a large part of this week, it has recently rebounded a bit and is making it difficult for spot gold and silver to make any gains worth talking about. After the ECB met on Thursday the US Dollar fell a good bit against the euro currency and even though this would normally be good for metals, such was not the case.
Next week is already shaping up to be a quiet one from an economic standpoint which means the market will more than likely continue to focus solely on the crisis in Ukraine.