Gold and silver have finally been able to realize some gains, but unfortunately, those gains can best be described as too little too late because it is still going to end up being a week of losses for both metals. Though the week started out on the slower side of things, the level of activity really picked up on Wednesday in the wake of Tuesday’s midterm elections in the United States. In case you missed it, stocks and the US Dollar were given a boost on Wednesday upon hearing that Republicans had seized control of both the House and the Senate.
Apart from Tuesday’s elections, investors also had the European Central Bank meeting and today’s US employment report to pay attention to. These happenings saw metals react differently, but it didn’t really matter because by the time things wrap up today, weekly losses will be inevitable.
Today’s Jobs Data Falls Far Short of Expectations
As is the case anytime the US releases its monthly employment report, the market pays attention. This time was no different and saw investors have high hopes for what today’s data might bring. After last month’s September employment report showed an increase in non-farm payrolls somewhere in the neighborhood of 250,000, the expectations of the market were that at least 230,000 jobs would have been added during October.
Unfortunately, the report, which was released earlier this morning, showed that not even 215,000 new jobs were created last month. These figures fell far short of expectations and ended up doing a bit of damage to both US equities as well as the greenback. As you could have probably guessed, the damage being done to the greenback and equities allowed gold and silver to venture forward and regain some of the value they had lost earlier in the week.
Now, as we look ahead to next week, all eyes will once again be fixated upon the progress of US equities as well as the US Dollar. These two asset classes have not only been performing well lately, but are the two major reasons behind why gold and silver have done so poorly. In addition to attention being paid to the equity and currency markets, investors will also be keeping a close eye on the progress, or lack thereof, of crude oil prices. As it stands, the value of crude oil has been on a drastic decline over the past few weeks and has brought all raw commodities down with it.