Precious metals have started the first half of the day on Wednesday in unimpressive fashion as they are trading even to slightly lower. With little markets-moving economic data on the slate today, the market continues to focus on the incredibly busy geopolitical atmosphere. Despite safe-haven demand for precious metals this week being only a shadow of what it was a week ago, investors are still showing visible signs of uneasiness with regard to what the next few weeks hold from a geopolitical standpoint.
Investor Worries Diminish, But Still Exist
Roughly a week ago, the global marketplace delved into a state of panic upon hearing the news of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-17 being shot out of the sky over Eastern Ukraine by surface-to-air missiles. Reports streamed in all day, but it was quickly uncovered that the passenger flight was presumed to be shot out of the sky by pro-Russian separatists who have control of large expanses of Eastern Ukraine. Because the rebels are alleged to be directly funded, supplied, and trained by Russia, many world leaders are blaming the Russians for not doing enough to prevent such tragic events from happening. With US-Russian relations already strained as a result of Russia’s involvement in the turmoil that has been taking place in Ukraine over the last 6 months or so, things are only bound to get worse. As Russia continues to ignore the world’s pleas for intervention in Ukraine, their relationship with the United States will only grow increasingly distant.
So long as tensions between world powers are as strained as they are currently, investors are naturally becoming a bit more uneasy. As a result, demand for safe-haven assets has been high over the past few weeks. With that said, however, investor uneasiness this week is much less severe than it was a week ago.