Gold Spot Price Open: $1,323

Gold Spot Price Close: $1,322

Change in Gold Spot Price: -$1

Silver Spot Price Open: $19.70

Silver Spot Price Close: $19.59

Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.11

Precious metals did not do much moving on Tuesday and finished the day not very far off from where they started it. When all was said and done, gold managed to add about 1 dollar while silver actually ended up losing little more than 10 cents. Platinum and palladium added value on the day, with platinum picking up about 10 dollars while palladium added roughly 8.

Batch of New US Economic Data Dealt

There were a few pieces of economic data dealt on Tuesday, but if we are being honest they were mostly ignored by the global marketplace. First and foremost was the US Conference Board’s reading on consumer sentiment. According to the officially released data, consumer sentiment in July fell from what was recorded in June. Officially, July brought back a reading of 97.3, down from 98 recorded in June.

Though any decrease in sentiment is not necessarily positive, the positive takeaway from today’s data was that sentiment fell by a lesser amount than what was expected. Lynn Franco, who is a director at the Conference Board, said in a statement today that, “Consumers were slightly more positive about current business and labor market conditions, suggesting the economy will continue to expand at a moderate pace. Expectations regarding business and labor market conditions, as well as personal income prospects, declined slightly as consumers remain cautiously optimistic about growth in the near-term.” All in all, the outlook on the US economy is slowly but surely moving upward.

Other data dealt on Tuesday included the US Commerce Department’s reading on sales of new, single-family homes. In June, sales of new homes were up by about 3.5%, bringing the seasonally-adjusted average number of homes sold to 592,000. This is clearly a much better reading than what we saw in May, where the seasonally-adjusted average number of new, single-family homes sold was just a little more than 570,000. The housing market is seeing median and average prices increase, and this is mostly due to a shortage of houses that continues to grow. So long as homes remain in short supply, the average price is more than likely going to continue going up.

Japanese Stimulus Expectations Push Back

The yen performed well against both the Euro and the USD on Tuesday as investors and market experts alike are now downgrading just how much additional stimulus the Bank of Japan is going to inject into the economy. Though most people are still anticipating that the BoJ will announce stimulus expansion upon the conclusion of their monthly policy meeting on Friday, the extent of that expansion is now being called into question.

The yen gaining against the greenback provided some temporary relief for precious metals, which have recently been put to the test by the stronger US currency. It will be interesting to see what kind of moves, if any, are made by the BoJ come week’s end.

Wrap-Up

Apart from the release of some US economic data, Tuesday was typical of a mid-summer day of trading in that there wasn’t much going on. The US FOMC wraps up its July policy meeting on Wednesday afternoon, and the post-meeting statement is something that is going to be eyed very closely by the market. At this juncture no one is anticipating that any changes to monetary policy will be implemented, however people are still hoping that at least something is said with regard to when rate hikes can be expected, and if they can be expected at all. Other than this, the focus of the marketplace will be firmly fixated on the BoJ.