Gold Spot Price Open: $1,284

Gold Spot Price Close: $1,283

Change in Gold Spot Price: -$1

Silver Spot Price Open: $19.49

Silver Spot Price Close: $19.50

Change in Silver Spot Price: +$0.01

Precious metals ended the day a bit mixed but mostly even amid quiet, end of August trading. When all was said and done, gold lost about a dollar while silver was up by just about a few pennies. Platinum and palladium both trended near even for a majority of the day but were able to add a little bit of value.

Interest In Precious Metals Floundering

Over the last few weeks, it has been no secret that precious metals have been under a decent amount of stress from surging US equity markets and an ever-improving US Dollar. At present, the spot value of gold is sitting at a near two-month low and is continuing to feel pressure from the same factors that have been driving spot values downward for the past 8 weeks or so.

Not helping precious metals at all has been the meteoric rise on the part of most major US equity markets and the S&P 500 in particular. With global investor interest shifting more readily to US equity markets, the need for safe-haven precious metals as an alternative investment is just not the same as it was a few months ago. The presupposition that interest rates in the US are soon to be on the rise is also not helping the prospects of precious metals. Though no official moves have been made with regard to the raising of US interest rates, a large portion of investors are beginning to make decisions under the impression that a rate hike is inevitable. With that being said, however, the US Federal Reserve has made it clear time and time again that it is going to take some more improvement on the part of the US economy, the labor sector in particular, before any big policy shifts are made.

USD Index Pulls Back, But Only Slightly

The USD Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of rival currencies, was seen trending downward and in the red for the day by the time markets closed. After beginning the day trending near even, the greenback suffered some minor losses in the afternoon due to the Euro regaining marginal amounts of the value they have lost over the past few weeks.

As you could have probably guessed, the Dollar’s move lower today was a major contributing factor to the limited selling pressure felt by precious metals. On the whole, however, today was a typical day for the late summer in that things were quiet and generally subdued. US equity markets moved a little, but by the time market’s closed were in roughly the same position they were in when the day began.

Treasuries Gain; European Yields Slip

Today saw US Treasuries pick up some value while European bond yields fell on the news that the European Central Bank may soon implement more monetary stimulus. Charles Comiskey

from Bank of Nova Scotia said today that “the rally is being led by what’s going on in Europe and the bond markets there.” Though US Treasury yields have also been on the decline lately, they are falling at a much more sluggish pace than European bond yields.

Making even more sense of the situation was Alessandro Giansanti, rates strategist at Amsterdam-based ING Groep NV, when he was quoted as saying, “Some investors in Europe are buying Treasuries to seek better yields because of the economic and Fed’s policy outlook. The Treasury curve is likely to maintain its flattening trend amid speculation the Fed is heading for a tighter policy.”

Wrap-Up

Looking ahead to the last few days of the week, you can expect much of the same as very few pieces of economic data will be made public and even fewer geopolitical events are catching the attention of investors. Though things are likely to begin picking up come next week or so, we are still in the final days of summer and, as such, the trading atmosphere will be generally quiet and subdued.