Gold Spot Price Open: $1,217
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,224
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$7
Silver Spot Price Open: $17.86
Silver Spot Price Close: $17.89
Change in Silver Spot Price:+$0.03
Precious metals were seen trending upward for a majority of the day as global tensions picked back up on the news of US airstrikes in Syria. When all was said and done, gold managed to gain more than 5 dollars while silver improved by just a few pennies. Platinum added a bit of value today, but palladium was the real winner as it was able to gain nearly 15 dollars.
Risk-Aversion Abounds On News of Syria
Sometime yesterday evening, reports began trickling in with regard to the onset of US airstrikes against ISIS locations and units stationed throughout Syria. According to multiple sources, the United States initial onslaught consisted of a combination of cruise missiles, bombers, helicopters, and unmanned aircraft (drones). The number of locations that were hit varied from source to source, but the firepower was intense and the destruction was plentiful.
By the time markets opened in the United States today, investors were well-aware of the ongoing attacks happening in Syria. As a result, risk-aversion began gripping the market as was shown by the downward movement of the US Dollar and equity markets. As the day wore on, precious metals’ gains were parred, but some gains were able to be retained. With attention now being paid to the developing fight in Syria, precious metals may have just been given some underlying support. According to Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst at VTB Capital, “We have seen a pullback in the US dollar. We had a bit of a relief rally after the losses seen in the past few days, but I’m still not bullish on the (gold) market, although this may mean that prices may now consolidate at around $1,220/$1,230, rather than at the lows of $1,208.” It will definitely be interesting to see what, if any, impact fresh fighting in Syria will have on metals as the rest of the week plays out.
New York Fed President Speaks On Interest Rates
Unless you have been living under a rock the last few weeks, you are more than well-aware of the importance that investors are placing on the timing of interest rate hikes in the United States. Just last week, the FOMC indicated that perhaps interest rates would be raised sooner than originally expected. This news was deemed to be hawkish in nature and provided the US Dollar with some additional support.
Today, however, the story was a bit different as New York Federal Reserve president William Dudley alluded that these new predictions should be taken with a grain of salt. In essence, his remarks alluded that simply because a few members of the Fed would like to see rates risen sooner rather than later does not mean such will actually prove to be the case. This news, combined with the attention being paid to violence in Syria, acted as support for precious metals.
Wrap-Up
With little to no economic data on the slate for the next few days, I expect investor attention to remain fixated upon the developing situation in Syria. After all, many are expecting some sort of reaction from Russian president Vladimir Putin, especially considering Syria is one of Russia close allies.
In other news from today, it was reported that China’s manufacturing PMI ticked up ever so slightly during this month. Though this is nothing more than a preliminary reading, the news was perceived as bullish for precious metals and all other raw commodities.
