Gold Spot Price Open: $1,354
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,344
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$10
Silver Spot Price Open: $19.83
Silver Spot Price Close: $19.25
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.58
Precious metals continued sliding on Friday to close out a poor week on a somewhat poor note. When all was said and done, gold managed to lose about 8 dollars while silver declined by a little more than 50 cents. Platinum and palladium also lost on the day, however platinum lost in upwards of 20 dollars while palladium lost only a dollar or two.
USD Index Rebounds to Close Out Week
Throughout the whole of this week, precious metals and the US Dollar have been trading blows, with the Dollar winning one day while metals won the next. The greenback rebounded dramatically on Friday and that was enough to bury both gold and silver for the week. The USD’s gains were thanks to comments from New York Fed president William Dudley and some comments he made late Thursday. To make a long story short, Dudley said that so long as economic data remains strong there is no reason to believe that interest rates will not be hiked in the near future. When exactly will rates be hiked? Unsurprisingly, Dudley did not comment on a possible timeline for when these rate hikes might occur.
Even though we may see some more economic data similar to what we have seen this week, the next month or more is likely to remain quiet. In fact, until the Labor Day holiday, which takes place the first weekend in September, you can expect that most global markets will remain mostly quiet. For gold and silver, this is not the greatest thing and may lead to further gradual losses much like we have witnessed the past few weeks. Of course, a lot can happen over the course of the next two weeks so nothing is set in stone currently.
Wall Street Bounces Around Ahead of Jackson Hole
US stocks were lower across the board on Friday was investors are entirely unsure what to expect about the near-term future of monetary policy. Hopefully providing insight into what the future holds for US monetary policy will be next week’s meeting of global central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The summit will see a number of speakers take the stage, but few of their speeches are going to be watched as much as that of Janet Yellen. The chair of the Fed is set to take the stage towards the middle of the week, however what her comments will be is still up in the air. Regardless, you can bet that investors will be paying close attention.
Peter Cardillo, of New York-based First Standard Financial, commented today by saying, “There is a bit on uncertainty over the Fed’s decision and Yellen’s speech next week is motivating investors to take some money off the table. It is typical to expect a retreat at these levels with volumes remaining muted.”
By the time markets open next week, I do not expect much to change as far as the trajectory of precious metals spot values is concerned. For now, I would not be surprised to see both gold and silver continue to move downward throughout the next few trading sessions.
Wrap-Up
For the week, gold and silver did not impress and actually both ended up losing some value. With that said, gold’s losses were not nearly as significant as those of silver. While silver began the week just below the $20/ounce threshold, it is going to wrap up the week by ending just a few cents above the $19 mark. With little activity expected over the weekend, you can anticipate that the market will open up next week slowly and quietly.