Gold and silver have rebounded today after losing some ground during the middle stages of the week. While it caught a lot of people off guard that gold and silver were able to ride their momentum into this week, that quickly changed as profit-taking and a slight technical correction made an appearance Tuesday through Thursday. Not only that, but some other factors were also weighing on the progress of precious metals.
There wasn’t much in the way of economic data this week, though what did make its way to the marketplace was of particular interest to most investors. As we head into the latter stages of February, it is clear to see that gold and silver have maintained their grasp on their near-term technical momentum and will look to build upon it.
Some Economic Data Amid A Mostly Quiet Week
The heading above says it all. While profit-taking and a technical correction worked against the progress made by gold and silver spot values, there really wasn’t much else going on this week. There were economic reports from the United States, but they were, for the most part, of no real importance to the investing world. With that being said, however, one report most definitely caught the attention of the investing world. The United States’ weekly jobless claims report, which has been growing worse over the past few weeks, finally decreased slightly this week. In the wake of the report the USD grew in value while the spot values of gold and silver were pressured, even if only slightly.
In other news from around the world, a weak preliminary manufacturing PMI from China also put more pressure on gold and silver. As China is the world’s largest consumer of precious metals for investing purposes, any sub-par economic news from the nation will almost always translate into downward pressure being levied against gold and silver.
Finally, violence in Ukraine between protesters and riot police has gotten considerably worse over the past few days. As more civilians are claimed victim to the violence, the world and its leaders are continuously calling upon the president of Ukraine to make decisive action in an effort to end the protests. While this situation is undeniably horrible, it is fueling safe-haven demand for gold and silver. As we head into next week, it will be interesting to see in what direction this situation heads.