Monday Open: $1,324.50
Weekly High: $1,328.30
Weekly Low: $1,266.70
Friday Close: $1,270.70

Despite the continuation of the U.S. government’s second week of partial shut down, gold did not rally as a safe heaven and instead hit a one-week low. There is a significant amount of anxiety and tension in the marketplace right now over the U.S. government’s inability to pass a budget, and even more tension surrounding the looming debt ceiling negotiations. Analysts say that gold is not acting like a hedge fund because of its bad run the last few months, but if the U.S. defaults on its loans, which is what will happen if a budget is not passed and the debt ceiling ignored, then the U.S. credit ranking will take another hit and the yellow metal will then see more activity.

Monday opened the week fairly stable and continued to operate in a narrow price range into Tuesday. The Republican stronghold and Democratic balking seemed to heighten this week, with each party digging in their heels even more than last. The price of gold did not respond too much to this uncertainty, as there is not yet panic in the marketplace. Russian President Putin and German Bundesbank both warned the U.S. that a continuation of the debt ceiling dilemma will soon start to affect other world economies.

The new Federal Reserve nomination was announced Wednesday, to no one’s surprise. Obama will be aiming to put Janet Yellen in place as the next Chief of the Fed to replace Ben Bernanke in 2014. This is seen as generally bullish for gold, since Yellen, who has served as Vice President of the Fed since 2010, supports quantitative easing programs like Bernanke. However, the news did not move the market.

The end of the week saw prices dip from their general holding pattern. Risk-on attitudes and sell-stops on Friday contributed to the decline. The lack of economic data released in the past week put a halt to a lot of trading, including gold, though Obama and the Republicans seem to be close to signing a six-week long extension on the debt ceiling to pass a budget.