The best way to describe the precious metals market at present is frozen. Spot values have not done entirely too much moving over the past week or so and with this week already shaping up to be extremely quiet, it is very likely that we will continue to see much of the same throughout the duration of the week. When the week’s most highly anticipated piece of economic data is the United States’ weekly jobless claims report you know it is a slow go.
As we approach the end of the day on Wednesday, it is looking like gold and silver will both finish marginally higher, but not by any great amount. Short-covering is still being seen as a factor around the marketplace but, as today has clearly shown, it is not enough to have much in the way of a positive impact on precious metals’ spot values.
Frozen Marketplace Keeps Metals Grounded
After surging stock markets and a stronger US Dollar drove gold and silver spot values significantly lower more than two weeks ago, neither metal has been able to recover. Equity markets around the world have remained in their elevated positions and are continuing to prevent gold nor silver from making anything in the way of positive gains. Investors are currently describing the marketplace as “frozen”, meaning that new catalysts capable of initiating price action are presently being awaited.
US equities sold off at a considerable rate today, and this was something that may have given gold and silver their slight upside boost. Violence in Iraq is also picking up as of the last week or so as armed men have taken a hold of some northern parts of the country. This could prove to bring about some safe-haven demand for metals, but such has yet to be seen as the violence in Iraq is still a periphery concern for the market at present.
As the week wears on, investors are expecting much of the same with regard to how quiet the world marketplace has been. There are no major pieces of economic data on the slate for Thursday nor Friday and investors will instead continue to analyze the movement of major equity markets from across the globe.