Hello and welcome to our market week preview, where we take a look at the economic data, market news, and headlines likely to have the biggest impact on pricing and market momentum for gold, silver, and platinum, as well as key correlated assets.

Gold Markets

Gold prices have risen throughout Sunday evening and Monday’s opening sessions for the week in response to the US and Israel’s military campaign against Iran, which ignited over the weekend. Both spot and futures markets for the yellow metal briefly rose above $5400/oz during the European sessions, and although there have been some quick retracements during US trading hours, spot prices remain in the neighborhood of $5325, and Monday’s COMEX close was marked at the third-highest price all-time. The dominant factor in the gold market is undoubtedly an aggressive rush to safe havens with the escalation of another unstable war being initiated in the Middle East, with less than clear goals that could mark a cessation point. As the week begins, the US administration has put forward projections of military action lasting “only 4-5 weeks.” What is likely to be the most impactful mover of markets this week (in metals and elsewhere) is reporting on how events unfold and whether they support or refute the proposition of limited strikes with quick results. Later on in the week, we will get the February Jobs Report to follow up on what has been judged and the inconclusive numbers on the delayed January data. How much of a market reaction we see on Friday will be dependent on whether there is any space front-of-mind for traders and managers to position around anything other than the implications of the new war action in Iran.

Silver and Platinum Markets

While silver and platinum prices initially rallied alongside gold when markets opened on Sunday evening, both have been much harder hit by Monday’s retracements. Silver spot prices are down nearly -5% on the day, and platinum is off by nearly -2%, trading on Monday afternoon around $89/oz and $2315/oz, respectively. Because of silver’s sensitivity to many other inputs to the macro environment by virtue of its critical role in manufacturing (a tie gold does not have), it appears that even with the onset of another potentially drawn-out and far-reaching military conflict, traders are finding spot prices above $90 difficult to stomach. The signals for platinum are somewhat less clear from Monday morning. The grey metal may have slid back from Sunday night’s high of $2400 due to its own entanglements with the global manufacturing supply chain, or it may simply have dropped as a reflection of the stronger sell-off in silver.

US Economic Data to Watch this Week
Friday, March 6 at 8:30 am ET // February Jobs Report
[(NFP) consensus est.: +60K // prev.: +130K]
[(unemployment) consensus est.: 4.3% // prev.: 4.3%]
Friday, March 6 at 8:30 am ET // Retail Sales (Jan)
[consensus est.: -0.2% (MoM) // prev.: +0.0%]
And that’s how the precious metals basket is performing to begin the week. As always, we wish you all the best of luck in your markets in the coming days, and we’ll look forward to seeing you all back here next week for another metals market preview.