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Sep 09

Price of Gold Weekly Recap – September 2-6, 2013

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Monday Open: $1,389.90
Weekly High: $1,415.20
Weekly Low: $1,366.90
Friday Close: $1,389.20

Tensions in Syria continued to influence gold this week, and other global economic news also registered on gold’s radar.

Monday was a quiet day as U.S. traders stepped away from their computers for the Labor Day holiday. Overall, the yellow metal was little changed on the first day of the week.

Tuesday began the upward swing of the week, with traders returning to their desks to sweep up some of the lower gold prices for short-term trading. The continued question of a military strike on Syria was slightly revved up on Tuesday, as it seemed Congress might support President Obama’s plan to attack Syria for using chemical weapons. Traders returned to the gold market Tuesday on some increased safe haven buying.

Tensions eased slightly on Wednesday, causing some pullback from the stress trading. Prices also dipped on profit taking from the previous day’s wins. The U.S. Federal Reserve released an economic report Wednesday afternoon that showed the U.S. economy officially growing mildly to moderately, depending on sector. This news was not surprising, so it did little to affect market conditions.

Thursday morning was quiet on the gold trading front as traders anticipated a slew of U.S. economic data to be released in the afternoon. Sure enough, this data was positive and so caused a slump in the gold market. The reports included the weekly jobless claims report, the ADP national employment report, chain store sales trends, and more.

Even so, it was the U.S. jobs report Friday morning that people were anticipating, since many believe a positive report can influence the Fed to start their tapering program earlier rather than later. It was good news for gold bugs, however, with the unemployment rate falling one point to 7.3%, which was still behind expectations. The decrease was also not because people were getting new jobs but because people were leaving the work force, according to analysts. The non-farm payroll report was also lower than expected. Therefore, Friday afternoon saw prices rise to end the week near to where it began.

The Syrian conflict and the Federal Reserve’s decision about when to start the tapering program will likely influence gold prices next week.

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.