Tag Archives: gold prices

Dec 16

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – December 9-13, 2013

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Monday Open: $1,234.30
Weekly High: $1,265.80
Weekly Low: $1,224.00
Friday Close: $1,237.50

Gold will end its 12-year bull run this year, analysts across the board conclude. After dropping around 20% since the beginning of the year, the yellow metal seems to have hit the end of its winning streak. Yet, despite short-term losses, many believe the price of gold has hit a bottom for the time being and still holds long-term staying power.

Monday’s gold prices remained fairly unchanged after the previous Friday’s bolstering U.S. jobs report, even gaining a few points. It was released on Friday that nationwide unemployment had reached its lowest level since 2008. Despite such news, gold did not respond in a significant way. This is one indication that the sellers may have all left the market.

One of the biggest price indicators for gold this year has been talk of the Federal Reserve ending its quantitative easing program on hopes that the economy is steadily improving. On Monday, President of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, Jeffrey Lacker, made a statement that the Fed will discuss bond tapering at its meeting next week. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard separately stated that he endorses a small December taper.

Despite this bearish news for gold, Tuesday actually saw price gains. This may mean that gold bulls are still optimistic. Many foresee that a few positive economic data points do not equate to long-term positive growth. This makes gold still a player on the field as an economic hedge fund. Forbes KITCO analysts also premise that gold may remain steady for the next 1-2 years but could gain momentum after that.

In other world economic news, on Wednesday Canadian gold miner IAMGOLD announced that gold prices were too low to pay dividends to their investors, so dividends are being suspended for the time being. On Thursday, Germany’s financial watchdog started an investigation into Deutsche Bank’s possible manipulation of gold and silver prices.

Gold investors anticipate next week’s Federal Reserve meeting for further clues about economic policies.

Dec 02

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – November 25-29, 2013

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Monday Open: $1,251.50
Weekly High: $1,254.00
Weekly Low: $1,236.90
Friday Close: $1,241.90

This week gold was significantly impacted by the first trade agreement between the U.S. and Iran in 30 years. Monday opened on a nearly 5-month low after the weekend’s surprising news.

Iran agreed to stop its nuclear weapons program in exchange for decreased sanctions from the U.S., Russia and other major nations. This was an unexpected turn of events, and caused most world stock markets to rally. Not only will there be more oil in the marketplace, but Iran just caused the Middle East to become a less volatile threat to world safety. Gold’s response, as an indirect key player against the dollar, was to drop.

Tuesday’s gold experienced losses continuing from Monday, though it did hit a midday high. Some U.S. home sales and economic data helped push gold down by the end of the day. Also, an article was released on Bloomberg that the UK Financial Conduct Authority is analyzing the price setting procedures of the London gold price fixing.

Wednesday was a fairly quiet day in the marketplace ahead of the Thanksgiving weekend. Some U.S. economic data was released, but it showed mixed results that in the end boosted the dollar, thereby lowering gold.

Thursday and Friday were sluggish as U.S. investors enjoyed their holiday weekend. Traders are anticipating the Federal Reserve meetings scheduled for December to gauge when bond tapering programs may begin.

Analysts speculate that 2013 might be the first year in a long run that gold could end lower than it began at the start of the year.

Oct 28

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – October 21-25, 2013

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Monday Open: $1,316.30
Weekly High: $1,353.40
Weekly Low: $1,312.30
Friday Close: $1,352.60

With the U.S. government reopened this week, backed up economic reports were released, positively influencing the price of gold. Thursday marked a four-week high and the week was overall bullish.

Monday opened the week near steady from last Friday’s closing numbers, with the market in anticipation of Tuesday when U.S. economic data was scheduled for release three weeks late.

Tuesday’s data encouraged the price of gold to make some significant gains. The main item on the list was September’s nonfarm payroll data, which showed less-than-expected growth. Unemployment was reported to have receded less than expected, which gives traders reason to believe the Fed will not begin its bond tapering program quite yet.

Wednesday’s gold prices slipped slightly on short-term profit-taking, but Thursday regained those losses and flew up to a four-week high on a few combined bullish factors. The dollar fell to a 10.5 month low on Thursday, bolstering the appeal of gold. Reports from China also gave indication that the holiday season will foster more consumer interest in buying gold.

Overall, gold experienced a strong week and traders are looking forward to next week’s FOMC two-day meeting.

Sep 30

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – September 23-27, 2013

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Monday Open: $1,325.30
Weekly High: $1,340.30
Weekly Low: $1,307.40
Friday Close: $1,336.30

After last week’s short-lived rally, gold spun its wheels a little bit on uncertain U.S. economic forecasts and an uneventful world marketplace. The ups and downs were slight and no major news entered the radar of gold, but trading is once again taking on a bearish light.

Monday saw the week open on technical selling pressure from last week’s gains and a continuation of the conversation about when the Fed really will begin its bond tapering program. Similarly, the U.S. debt ceiling debate could be bearish for gold in the coming weeks. Germany re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel to a third term, which could indicate further economic stability in the region, another bearish factor for gold. Meanwhile, China reported strong economic growth, also bearish for gold.

Tuesday morning New York Fed President William Dudley told CNBC that the Fed could begin its bond tapering program by the end of 2013 and conclude quantitative easing by 2014.

Wednesday saw positive mixed economic data come out of the U.S., including new residential home sales at a high, though Thursday’s reports were a mixed bag. Weekly jobless claims were lower, while GDP for the third quarter was weaker than expected. More “Fed speak” this week included Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker announcing that he supports bond tapering and is surprised it has not already begun.

By Friday, the U.S. debt ceiling issue had gained some momentum, with the U.S. government aimed to partially shut down the next week if Congress does not pass a budget.

Sep 02

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – August 26-30, 2013

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Monday Open: $1,393.90
Weekly High: $1,424.50
Weekly Low: $1,393.20
Friday Close: $1,394.50

This week’s gold price chart looks like a bell curve because mid-week spiked high in response to the Syrian crisis, then fell to close the week nearly as it started. Monday afternoon started the upward trend as gold broke the $1,400 price mark on safe haven trading related to the crisis in Syria. Secretary of State John Kerry released a statement that the U.S. believes Syria used chemical weapons against its citizens, a global war crime that President Obama said may be punished with a missile attack. George Gero, analyst at RBC, called the steady rising of gold prices in relation to the crisis, a “small fear premium.”

Tuesday continued the Syrian response trend to land gold a fresh three-month high, as the U.S. seemed poised to take military action in an already unstable Middle East.

Wednesday saw gold hit the week’s high, and also an all-time high against the Indian rupee. A faltering rupee could be bullish for gold, because even though gold is now more expensive to buy for those using the rupee, it reinforces the psychology behind why gold is important to have for the gold-savvy Indian consumers. Wednesday was a 3.5 month high for gold.

Thursday saw gold slipping back down from its mid-week high on profit-taking and a less nervous approach to Syria, after President Obama released a statement overnight that the U.S. does not plan on attacking Syria. U.S. allies are also not in agreement about what to do with Syria.

Friday’s extension of Thursday’s news continued to quell the anxiety over Syria, and so the marketplace responded by trading out of safe haven assets like gold, bringing the yellow metal back down to the week’s opening price range. The U.S. Labor Day weekend should mean that trading is slow throughout the beginning of the next week.

Aug 26

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – August 19-23, 2013

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Monday Open: $1,365.60
Weekly High: $1,399.70
Weekly Low: $1,356.90
Friday Close: $1,396.50

This week proved fruitful for gold, as a few economic global events pushed the price range up slightly higher by Friday, despite selling off early in the week. Last week showed improvements for gold, jumping 13%, so after those dramatic gains in an otherwise uncertain trading realm, traders were eager to reap the rewards from the incline and sell off their shares on Monday, bringing the price of gold back down to $1,365.

Tuesday saw gold rise a little bit on some more safe haven demand and a lower dollar. Traders are keeping an eye on the situation in Egypt, as this global crisis could push people back into desiring the hedge fund of gold. Other items of interest this week were the FOMC minutes released on Wednesday and Chinese manufacturing data released on Thursday.

Wednesday’s prices remained near steady as the FOMC released minutes that proved no real surprise to gold traders. With the expectation that the Federal Reserve would be soon employing their “tapering” program to end low interest rates, gold traders are cautious, but the meeting on Wednesday revealed no concrete time frame for when this would happen.

Because of the lack of news from the FOMC, Thursday’s prices remained steady with slight gains. The increase was also influenced by the manufacturing reports released on China’s economy, which had shown improvement. China is the world’s second largest buyer of gold, so a flourishing economy is bullish for the yellow metal.

Friday ended the week on a fairly sharp incline, probably influenced by the subtly bullish factors piling up throughout the week. These gains could spill over into next week.

Aug 12

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – August 5-8, 2013

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Monday Open: $1,302.30
Weekly High: $1,314.70
Weekly Low: $1,275.10
Friday Close: $1,313.20

Summer trading was fairly quiet for gold this week. Monday closed the first day of the week on a slight downturn, due to lack of fresh bullish news for precious metals. In related news, China’s economy reported growth on Monday, which could be bullish for gold in the long term, since China is the world’s second biggest buyer of the yellow metal.

Tuesday featured “Fedspeak” by Atlanta Fed president Dennis Lockheart, which also brought the market down. Lockheart made the statement that he expects the tapering program to begin by the end of the year. Tuesday’s gold market responded negatively to this statement, dropping gold to below the $1,300 mark to hit a new three-week low.

Wednesday recovered some of those losses in short covering after midday selling pressure had worn off. Overall, trading is still relatively quiet and uneventful during these “dog days” of summer, when traders in North America and Europe are vacationing and away from their computers.

Thursday was the best of the week for gold, shooting up above the $1,300 bar to overcome previous losses. The dollar contributed to this gain by hitting a six-week low overnight, and the European Union also released news that the economy was improving, a bullish factor for many markets.

Friday ended the week by consolidating the gains from Thursday to end on an overall higher note.

Aug 05

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – July 29-August 2, 2013

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Monday Open: $1,328.70
Weekly High: $1,336.40
Weekly Low: $1,285.10
Friday Close: $1,307.90

The week began in anticipation of major economic news the rest of the week and a high opening statement on Monday. The dollar hit a five-week low on Monday, causing gold to start out on a slight upswing. Tuesday flipped the switch and gold endured modest losses as those outside markets turned bearish – the dollar rose and crude oil sank.

The first big news of the week occurred on Wednesday when the FOMC released their minutes and some key U.S. economic data came out. Wednesday’s price of gold took a slip from these two points, mainly the latter. U.S. gross domestic product for the second quarter reported higher-than-expected numbers, ranking at 1.7$ instead of 0.9%. The monthly ADP jobs report also showed gains, reporting 200,000 new jobs instead of the expected 180,000. The FOMC minutes were still accommodative to gold, with Chairman Ben Bernanke waiting on pushing the tapering program ahead. The new expected start date for the long-anticipated change to Federal Reserve monetary policy, which would be extremely bearish for gold, has been now circulating as around September.

Thursday regained some of those losses as Europe started off on some positive trading deals with the U.S. and gold traders were bolstered by the final closing statement from Bernanke that came out after the traing day had ended. There was no mention of any start date for the tapering program in this statement, a good sign for gold bugs.

Friday, however, undid all the gains of the week and slipped down below the $1,300 mark on very strong U.S. economic data. U.S. manufacturing data and jobless claims reports pushed gold down, further exacerbating worries that positive economic reports will influence an earlier decision by the FOMC.

Jul 15

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – July 8-12, 2013

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Monday Open: $1,235.40
Weekly High: $1,298.00
Weekly Low: $1,233.70
Friday Close: $1,284.40

In light of all the major losses gold has been suffering lately, gold bugs will be happy to know that this week charted gains in the yellow metal’s corner. With a major spike caused by “Fed speak” on Thursday, gold is now reaching up toward the $1,300 mark.

Monday opened positively for gold, prices reacting to a slight slump in the dollar index after the greenback had hit a three-year high last Friday. Conflict in Egypt is still on the world’s radar, and while nothing extreme happened overnight, gold takes its place once again as a safety fund in times of crisis.

Tuesday’s price gains were caused by economic reports out of China that relayed higher inflationary rates in the country. China’s consumer price index for June was up to 2.7%, higher than the 2.1% of May and the forecast of 2.5%. Inflation, or the threat of inflation, brings more attention back to gold as a hedge fund.

The really big day of the week for gold was Thursday – the FOMC had a meeting on Wednesday, which consisted of more deliberation than action, and no conclusive evidence for any changes in Fed policy in the near future, which caused a major price jump on Thursday. One of the major issues of the meeting was how to convey the Fed’s policies to the public. What is now being called “Fed speak” to refer to the statements issued by Chairman Ben Bernanke is a good sign for gold right now. The result of the meeting is that now the Fed expects to employ its “tapering” program later instead of sooner.

Friday reported a few losses in mixed trading, but nothing too substantial to undo the gains from the day before.

Jul 01

Weekly Gold Price Recap – June 24-28, 2013

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Monday Open: $1,282.60
Weekly High: $1,287.40
Weekly Low: $1,186.30
Friday Close: $1,233.00

The gold market experienced major losses this last week of June as the yellow metal once again hit a 3-year low. A far cry from the predictions of $2,000 per ounce made last year, gold is weighing in around $1,200 this week.

Monday saw gold fall about $20 to $1,277 as Goldman Sachs downgraded predictions for future prices, setting a new bar of $1,030 for the end of the year. The more stable economic situation in the U.S. and global markets are accounting for the major price drop in gold. Last Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made the most explicit statement yet about pulling back on the quantitative easing program that has been in effect since 2008.

This zero-interest rate model has spurred gold to record levels in the past 5 years, as gold is non-taxed and often sought as a safe haven investment during times of economic turmoil, but now with an improving economy and lower unemployment rate, the end of these liberal economic measures is near. With the change in the economic landscape, traders are gravitating more towards higher returns elsewhere. Even the high demand for physical gold in India is not enough to put gold back at its previous high.

Gold has dropped 23% this quarter, losing about one quarter of its value since April. The yellow metal hit a fresh three-year low on Wednesday. Part of the dramatic pullback in the market is due to economic crises in China, commonly referred to as a “cash crunch,” which has drawn investors away from raw commodities.

The precious metal broke below the $1,200 barrier on Thursday for the first time since 2010. Analysts say that a continuing drop in gold should be expected. A professor of business at Duke University, Campbell Harvey, estimates the “fair value” of gold, or the average, to be about $800, which predicts even a ways to go before gold hits a plateau.

Friday marked the end of the second trading quarter of the year, with gold having dropped 30% since the beginning of 2013. The yellow metal is heavy in the news lately for the harsh beating it has taken since the “golden years” of 2011 and 2012, starting when gold hit a record high of $1,921 in September 2011, then continuing to remain in the upper reaches. Contrary to some hopeful analysts’ predictions, though, It never quite broke $2,000, and it is floundering at nearly half that now.