Gold Spot Price Open: $1,218
Gold Spot Price Close: $1,222
Change in Gold Spot Price: +$4
Silver Spot Price Open: $17.79
Silver Spot Price Close: $17.59
Change in Silver Spot Price:-$0.20
Today was yet another sub-par day for precious metals, but spot gold somehow managed to squeak by with some small gains. When all was said and done, gold picked up around 4 dollars while silver actually declined by roughly 20 cents. Platinum and palladium both traded downward for a majority of the quiet trading day.
Physical Demand For Metals Continues to Lag
For yet another trading day, precious metals started and ended without doing all that much in the way of making gains. Over the course of the past month or two, this kind of day seems to be more or less the norm, and if anything, things seem to be getting worse. While the spot values of gold and silver were lifted off multi-month lows during the day thanks to bargain-hunting and some physical buying as a result of low prices, this was just a momentary uptick in the midst of a growing downward trend.
One of the biggest factors currently putting a damper on spot values is the fact that physical demand in recent months has not been strong enough to keep prices above certain crucial levels. As China prepares for their “Golden Week” holiday next week, physical buying there has not been at levels we have seen in the past. For many people, the Golden Week is a time where gifts are exchanged between family members and friends, and it is customary to gift gold. Putting things in perspective, perhaps, is the fact that China’s gold imports from Hong Kong in August were the lowest since mid-2011. Though it will take more than an uptick in demand in China for the precious metals market to get back on track, a lack of physical demand from the world’s second largest economy and largest importer of gold is not helping matters at all.
US Dollar Edges Even Higher
Unless you simply haven’t been paying attention, it is no secret that the US Dollar has been making massive gains not only against the Euro, but against many other currencies as well in recent weeks. Just today, in fact, the USD Index soared to a 4-year high while the value of the Euro was at its lowest point in a few months more than a year.
The factors fueling such movements are none other than upbeat economic data coming from the US while Europe dishes out nothing but sub-par data and weak outlooks. With the EU economy, as well as the economies of Japan and a few other countries, continuing to struggle, there is no real way of telling when the Dollar’s dominance will cease. With that said, so long as the ECB and US Federal Reserve continue employing starkly contrasting monetary policies the current trends are likely to continue.
Wrap-Up
Typical for this week, today’s trading session was incredibly slow and subdued. Though a good bit of movement on the part of precious metals spot values took place, by the time market’s closed things were none too different than what they were like before markets opened. Looking ahead to the final day of the week, there will be some light economic data on the table, but it will likely have only a soft impact on the marketplace.