Gold and silver spot values are hovering near even but have still found some room to make gains on Wednesday. A few factors are impeding the progress of metals, but it is clear to see that they have the near-term technical momentum and will be riding that wave as far as it takes them. Despite the week’s major economic data expected to be made public tomorrow, today brought with it a few reports worth noting, including the ADP employment report for June.
The ongoing civil war in Iraq is still on the minds of investors from around the world, but a slight decrease in the amount of violence has caused the market to focus elsewhere this week. With US military advisers on the ground and more to come, most are anticipating that it will not be too long before the Iraqi civil war makes its way back to the headlines. Safe-haven demand stemming from Iraq has also taken a step backwards, but is still definitely a factor helping keep spot values buoyed.
Investors Looking Forward To Thursday’s Economic Data
Due to this trading week being shortened for most Americans as a result of the Independence Day holiday falling on Friday, a lot of key economic data will be published tomorrow. Perhaps more important than any other economic report on the slate for tomorrow is the United States’ employment report for June. Currently, the market is expecting to see job growth figures somewhere in the neighborhood of 215,000, but after today’s upbeat ADP employment report those expectations might just be a bit higher. Shattering market expectations, today’s ADP employment report showed that more than 280,000 jobs were added to the US economy last month. This news alone was enough to mute the gains being made by precious metals.
Also happening tomorrow is the European Central Bank’s monthly policy meeting. Despite no one expecting much of anything to come as a result of tomorrow’s meeting, investors will still be paying close attention in order to see if the ECB addresses recent economic reports which suggest deflation is still very much a problem for the EU economy. A report released today indicated that producer prices fell by .1% in April and were down by 1% on an annual basis. While it is understood that recent changes to monetary policy instituted by the ECB may take a little while to have a noticeable impact on the marketplace, most investors were under the impression that things would at least begin to change sooner rather than later.
While this is a short trading week, it is set to pack more action in four days than the last few weeks have packed into 5.