Gold Spot Price Open: $1,278
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,283
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$5
Silver Spot Price Open: $19.42
Silver Spot Price Close: $19.43
Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.01
Precious metals began the day trending significantly higher, but by the time markets closed most of those gains were pared due to stronger stocks and a stronger US Dollar. When all was said and done, gold picked up about 5 dollars while silver was able to gain a penny or so. Unlike gold and silver, platinum and palladium trended near even for a majority of the day.
Equities Continue to Build Momentum
For a second consecutive day, the S&P 500 crossed over the 2,000 threshold. Fueled by upbeat data on consumer confidence and durable goods orders, investors are growing in confidence that the US economy is, in fact, gaining strength. Unlike yesterday, the S&P’s push above 2,000 has actually been sustained and was even built upon a bit today. Since the first week of August, the S&P has continuously climbed upward and has added over $1 trillion in value in just under 3 weeks’ time. Though most US stock indexes have been performing well over the past month or so, few have been able to even come close to replicating the S&P’s progress.
Some of the biggest US equities movers today were Burger King Worldwide Inc, Tim Hortons Inc., and Best Buy. Tim Hortons was able to add nearly 9% after it was announced that the company will be acquired by Burger King in an $11.4 billion cash-and-share deal. Best Buy, on the other hand, declined by more than 4% after it announced sales that fell far short of market expectations. Despite Best Buy’s decline today, US equities on the whole had another upbeat day.
Violence in Ukraine Moves Back Into the Headlines
It was announced yesterday that a convoy of at least ten tanks entered Ukraine from Russia. Though Russian officials have yet to confirm or deny these reports, Moscow has announced plans to send yet another humanitarian aid convoy into some of the hardest-hit areas of Ukraine. The revived tensions have worked today to add value to precious metals, even if only marginal amounts of value.
Today, Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian opposition Petro Peroshenko met in Minsk, Belarus to discuss what the two nations can do to stop the violence happening between Ukrainian military forces and pro-Russian rebels. As a result, the USD index traded down ever so slightly for a majority of the day, but was able to make a late day rally and bring itself above even.
Wrap-Up
Today did see investors focus on the ongoing violence in Ukraine, but as you can plainly see, these events only aided precious metals slightly. It will be interesting to see if the market continues paying attention to Ukraine as the week wears on or if it will fade out of the headlines as quickly as it entered them. As always, we will continue to pay close attention to the progress of US stocks and the US Dollar.
