Gold Spot Price Open: $1,113
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,107
Change in Gold Spot Price: -$6
Silver Spot Price Open: $14.74
Silver Spot Price Close: $14.61
Change in Silver Spot Price: -$0.13
Precious metals lost some value to close out what has been an interesting week of trading. Though we have seen plenty of ups and downs, metals are looking like they will be finishing the week in less than impressive fashion. When all was said and done on Friday, gold lost about 6 dollars while silver moved downward by close to fifteen cents. Platinum finished the day down by more than ten dollars while palladium managed to add about 3 dollars.
Metals Lose Ahead of FOMC Meeting
For a third consecutive week, gold is finishing on the negative side of things thanks to a host of factors, but especially the declining price of crude oil. Though there are so many people who do not think a rate hike will be coming next week, there are others who think we may hear a rate hike announcement come next Thursday. Thanks to the potential for raised interest rates, the overall appetite for precious metals is and has been on the decline. Simply put, higher interest rates amid a more calm, stable economic atmosphere makes safe-haven gold and silver seem less appealing.
Making this whole scenario make a lot more sense was Daniel Brieserman, an analyst for Commerzbank, when he said, “Our house view is that they will wait until December. I think that will lead to continued uncertainty in the gold market. The market would be in better shape if the Fed said clearly next week what it was going to do.”
Weekly Jobless Claims Highlighted Ahead of FOMC Meeting
We reported yesterday that last week’s weekly jobless claims report showed that 5,000 fewer people applied for unemployment benefits than the week before. This was great news for the US economy, and gives investors some reason to believe that rate hikes may by happening next week. Of course, one weekly jobless claims report is not enough to sway the Fed one direction or another, but this most recent report is a perfect complement to the plethora of upbeat data we have been receiving from the US Labor market. There is a lot going on in the United States, and while many aspects of the economy breed uncertainty, it is beginning to become well-known that the landscape of employment in the US is improving.
The Fed has said time and time again that the employment market of the United States is a heavy dictator in whether rates will be hiked, and it seems as though the Fed’s lofty expectations are being lived up to. Unfortunately, economic turbulence from other parts of the world are taking away from the positives emitting from the US labor market.
Wrap-Up
Today marked a very somber end to a somewhat eventful week. With the plethora of economic data that was released over the course of this trading week, investors will likely take some time to digest what was dished out before making any final decisions before the Fed’s meeting. The beginning of next week, I imagine, will be extremely slow as most investors will be holding their positions until Janet Yellen speaks on Thursday afternoon. Barring any crazy happenings over the weekend, I expect a relatively quiet start to things next week.