Gold and silver spot values are looking like they will finish the week on a positive note, but the week, as a whole, is not going to be anything to write home about. There hasn’t been much economic data made public this week and that, more than anything else, has helped gold and silver. The reason for this is because most of the data that has been made public in recent weeks is upbeat in nature and generally adversarial to the progress of gold and silver spot values.

As it stands, demand for gold and silver is surging and really doing well, however, physical demand alone is likely not going to be enough to bring about an elongated rally for precious metals. With a market as bearish as the current one is, it is going to be extremely difficult for metals to retain or add to today’s gains.

Major Banks Accused of Cheating the System

While it is true that there weren’t too many pieces of economic data for investors to talk about this week, Wednesday did bring about quite possibly the biggest news from the global banking industry we have received in some time now. According to multiple reports, an investigation led by Swiss, US, and UK banking authorities alleges that 5-7 of the world’s largest banks were actively manipulating foreign exchange markets in an effort to boost their profits. The months-long investigation only recently concluded and is now resulting in a $3.4 billion settlement with the accused banks.

This news did not have too much of an impact on stocks or the US Dollar, but it is definitely something to think about. This is the first investigation we have seen that pertains to matters like this, so it will be interesting to see what other investigations stem from this one. We have known for a while now that not all financial institutions fall the law to the letter, but we finally have an official investigation to confirm it.

Another big piece of data released this week came yesterday in the form of this week’s weekly jobless claims report. According to the report, claims for unemployment rose this week by far more than anyone was expecting. On the back of last week’s sub-par employment report, these weekly jobless claims are doing stocks and the Dollar no favors. Still, the overall outlook on the US economy is upbeat and is likely to continue to be that way for some time to come. For gold and silver, this is not such good news because it means that metals will become less and less attractive as alternative investments. With that said, however, there are a lot of people actively trying to get their hands on more precious metals right now simply because the spot values are so low.

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.

Gold and silver are suffering significant losses for yet another day this week as what was once looking like a week of marginal losses is now turning into one of very, very significant spot value declines. During the first half of the week, things were mostly quiet and spot values traded mostly sideways due to the fact that so many people were simply awaiting what the Federal Reserve had to say in the wake of their most recent policy meeting. Of course, the post-meeting statement delivered by the Fed was deemed to be much more hawkish than expected and did not at all work in metals’ favor.

Things only seemed to have gotten worse on Thursday once a small batch of quite important US economic data was made public. Though there wasn’t all that much data on the table, the reports were very important and enough to drastically change the attitudes and outlooks of many global investors. Now, as we look ahead to next week, it will be interesting to see if spot values can bounce back to any extent or if we will see them continue to be on the decline.

FOMC Statement Far More Hawkish Than Expected

This week’s FOMC meeting draw the usual attention from investors from around the world. Through Monday, Tuesday, and the first half of the day on Wednesday, the spot values of precious metals and most other assets moved sideways as investors opted to hold their positions until the Fed delivered its post-meeting statement sometime Wednesday afternoon.

Though the Fed’s removal of quantitative easing did little to surprise the marketplace, the fact that they took on such an upbeat outlook on the US economy did. Still, with that being said, the FOMC did reiterate that it would still be “considerable time” until interest rates are raised. Regardless, the Fed’s more positive outlook on the US economy was beneficial for the US Dollar and stocks, but was almost wholly negative for the precious metals market.

US Economic Data Does Metals No Favors Either

As if Wednesday’s hawkish FOMC statement wasn’t enough, Thursday brought with it a few economic reports that only added to the pressure being felt by gold and silver. Shortly after markets in the US opened yesterday, it was reported that the third-quarter GDP of the United States grew by much more than expected. The economy’s unexpected rate of growth was in stark contrast to expectations and ended up being the icing on the cake that was the best 6-month period of growth experienced by the US economy in more than ten years.

What’s more, it was also reported that US unemployment filings were the lowest during October than they were at any other single point in the last 14 years. As you could have probably guessed, all of this data has ended up working against precious metals in the form of increased investor risk-appetite. So long as more interest is being given to stocks and the US Dollar, not even the strongest physical demand for precious metals will be able to pull spot values back up to where they were at less than 3 days ago.

Precious metals are going to end the week on a positive note, but they will not be able to make this 5-day trading session a third consecutive week of gains. A stronger Dollar through much of the middle parts of the week took a lot of value away from spot gold and silver and ultimately doomed them to suffering minor losses for the week.

In all, there wasn’t too much in the way of economic data due out this week, but what little data was made public definitely had its impact on the marketplace. What’s more, rumors with regard to the ECB’s next monetary policy moves have abounded this week and only worked to give the US Dollar more strength; something that did not help precious metals at all. It will be interesting to see, as we head into next week, whether things will remain as quiet as they were this week or if some fresh economic data will be injected into the marketplace in order to stir things up a bit.

Revised Housing Data Gives Metals a Bit of a Boost

The big news of the week came today in the form of the most recent new home sales from the United States. Not only were September’s new home sales released, but so too were revisions for the previous three months. Those revisions, in fact, proved to be the most important aspect of today’s data release.

According to the figures, September saw new home sales rise, on an annualized basis, by about .2%. This translated into about 467,000 new home sales. Unfortunately for the US Dollar, however, September’s previous new home sales figure of around 504,000 was reduced to a mere 466,000. Not only that, but June and July’s figures were also reduced. As the US Dollar suffered in the wake of these figures, the precious metals market was awarded a modest boost.

Now, the focus of the marketplace shifts to next week and what it may have in store for the wider marketplace. A major theme that will continue to prevail is the speculation with regard to what the European Central Bank will do in order to stave off continuously growing deflationary pressures. Rumor through much of the beginning of the week held that the European Central Bank will soon announce plans to implement more asset purchases through a policy known to the United States as quantitative easing. If such does prove to be the case, the Euro currency is likely going to continue declining in value against the ever-stronger greenback.

Gold and silver spot values are down as of the writing of this post, but for the week it seems as though gains are going to be made. Though the gains made by gold and silver spot values will be small, it is encouraging to see metals, for a second consecutive week, finish in a better position than where they started. To be truthful, this week was generally quiet from an economic and geopolitical standpoint, but what economic happenings did take place only acted as a buffer for gold and silver.

Now, as the gold bulls seem to be gaining momentum, it will be interesting to see what takes place over the course of the coming days and weeks. At present, there is so much uncertainty in the marketplace that it seems as though precious metals may be pegged for a new move higher…only time will tell, however.

Economic Data Disappoints on Numerous Levels

Though there wasn’t all that much data making its way to the marketplace, what data did greet investors was mostly negative. From the United States, it was reported that retail sales as well as the producer price index were down for the month of September. Making matters worse for the average investor is the fact that the major US stock markets have played host to a good bit of volatility over the course of the past two weeks.

With volatility at an all-time high in the US and markets around the world, investor uncertainty has done nothing but grow. This is good news for precious metals and is a major contributing factor to the very likely second consecutive week of gains metals are poised to make. So long as stock markets remain as volatile as they have been recently, there is no reason why gold and silver spot values shouldn’t continue to move upward. With that said, however, the US Dollar will be a competing asset-class and may limit some of the buying interest in gold and silver. While it is unclear what the next few weeks have in store for gold and silver, we do know that we are likely in for quite an adventure.

Precious metals are holding steady to slightly lower to close out the week, but all in all, this 5-day trading session was one of the best metals have seen in more than a month. There wasn’t all that much data made public, but what data hit the market did give gold and silver a noticeable boost.

Some European economic news hit the market earlier in the week, and as has been the case for the past few months, it was almost wholly bad. German factory output for August was one of those reports, and the data showed a 4% decline from July to August. Market experts were expecting to see the data back-track, but no one was expecting such a drastic shift downward. Now, the wider marketplace is wondering what the European Central Bank will do to fight the rising deflationary pressures that seem to be plaguing the Euro Zone.

Fed Minutes Catch the Market’s Attention

The first few days of this week saw investors from foreign markets mulling over and reacting to last Friday’s upbeat employment report from the United States. As a result, US equities as well as the US Dollar began moving upward after a relatively volatile few days of trading.

By Wednesday, however, the volatility was a theme again in equity markers as US equities in particular swung drastically throughout daily trading sessions. By midday on Wednesday, things began to really become sporadic due to the release of the FOMC’s minutes from last month’s meeting. As has been the case in recent months, investors from around the world are looking to the FOMC to provide a timetable with regard to when interest rates will be raised. Unfortunately, however, no such timetable was provided.

What investors did find out, however, was that the Fed may be forced to hold off on hiking interest rates until next Fall, as opposed to earlier projections which held that interest rates might be risen sometime in June or July. Members of the Fed cited weakening economies in Europe and Asia as part of the reason behind why interest rate hikes might need to be delayed. Other members pointed to the US Dollar’s recent rally as potentially having a negative affect on US economic growth months down the road. Despite the labor market’s continued improvement, it still seems as though interest rate hikes in the US are a long way away. As a result of this spreading belief, investors flocked to US treasuries, the US Dollar, and, of course, safe-haven precious metals. The safe-haven demand coupled with bargain-hunting buyers was enough to propel the spot values of gold and silver to their first weekly gains in more than a month.

Precious metals are going to finish the day and the week having recorded losses. Though this is unfortunate, it is not so unexpected considering the quiet nature of this 5-day trading session. There hasn’t been much economic data on the table, and what little data was made public ended up having a negative impact on the spot values of gold and silver. Looking ahead to next week, things are likely to remain subdued and slow, which is none too positive news for gold and silver.

Something that did help the prospects of precious metals, at least momentarily, was the onset of fresh US airstrikes in Syria. Though the market was expecting the US to become more involved in the Middle East, it was not expected that they would be targeting ISIS strongholds in Syria so soon. This news ended up providing precious metals with a bit of a boost through the first 2 days of the week, but by Wednesday, those gains had been reverted. Though the market is not paying nearly as much attention to the Middle East today as they were on Monday and Tuesday, I am sure this situation will make its way back to the headlines sooner rather than later.

US Dollar Continues to Impress

Over the course of the past two months, the US Dollar has been on an almost unending move upward. The greenback has made massive gains against many rival currencies and is still hanging on to plenty of momentum. Just this week, the Dollar was boosted by a report from the United States claiming that sales of new homes during August were their best in quite some time. This upbeat economic news only lends credence to the belief that interest rates in the US will be raised sometime in the near future. This growing belief is great for the USD simply because as confidence in the US economy grows, so too will confidence in the US Dollar.

Against the Euro specifically, the Dollar has been making huge gains. The reason for this is due to the diverging nature of the US Fed and European Central Bank’s monetary policies. So long as accomodative measures are being taken in Europe and policies are tightening in the United States, most experts agree that the current trend will last through the foreseeable future.

Precious metals spot values are trading lower for yet another day to cap off what has proven to be yet another disappointing week. Now, gold and silver are poised to post weekly losses for the third consecutive week. Currently, the overall market atmosphere is such that precious metals are being overlooked by investors who are more focused on equity markets as well as currency markets.

As we look ahead to next week, it is highly likely that things will remain somewhat subdued. There isn’t a plethora of economic information scheduled to be released, and because of that I expect that investors will continue to focus on equities as well as currency markets.

FOMC Meeting Offers No New Clues

Prior to this week getting underway, there was no doubting that the week’s biggest event would come over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday in the form of the FOMC’s latest meeting. There has been so much speculation with regard to the future of interest rates in recent weeks and months that almost every investors who was paying attention was hoping to hear some more information with regard to when interest rates would be raised and by how much they would be raised by.

By meeting’s end on Wednesday afternoon, the market was mostly disappointed due to the relatively neutral nature of the FOMC’s post-meeting statement. According to the Fed, the economy is improving, but there is still definite room for improvement. The language utilized by the Fed stated that there was still “considerable time” until interest rates would be raised. This language was not at all unfamiliar, but was still deemed to be hawkish for precious metals simply because of the way investors reacted.

For equities, the use of the “considerable time” language was beneficial because it still allows for time to invest in the bullish US stock market. For the US Dollar, the FOMC meeting was beneficial simply because investors are confident that higher interest rates are on their way. All in all, this news was wholly negative for gold and silver, as indicated by the fact that they are headed for yet another weekly loss. Hopefully things begin to turn around next week, but with few major pieces of economic data on the table, it is not looking like such will prove to be the case.

Precious metals are trending near even to close out what has proven to be a fairly rough week. The lack of any real noteworthy economic activity has caused the US Dollar to trend higher and, as such, has weighed on the value of precious metals. In short, the currently bearish market is forcing spot gold and silver into a bit of downward sloping trough that sees spot values take 1 step forward for every three steps backwards. With underlying support fleeing at every turn, it is incredibly difficult for metals to gain any sort of foothold in the current market atmosphere.

While things from an economic data perspective were quiet for much of this week, the geopolitical front was abuzz with activity. For one, we are now in the 5th day of a ceasefire between Ukrainian and pro-Russian militants. This marks major progress made as it is the first real break in fighting we have seen in the past 5 or more months. With that said, there is no real way to determine whether this week’s ceasefire will have any larger implications as it pertains to a lasting peace in Eastern Ukraine.

In other news, Wednesday evening saw US president Barack Obama address the nation with regard to his intentions on handling the ISIS threat. According to his speech, President Obama made it clear that while no US combat boots will be on the ground in Iraq nor Syria, the United States will join allies in the intensifying of airstrikes against ISIS militants. This news was more or less expected and did not have any major impact on the marketplace. While the world was expecting Obama to announce increased airstrikes, no one was expecting Russian president Vladimir Putin to announce that he would perceive any airstrike by the US in Syria as a direct threat to Russia. As Syria’s close ally, Russia is attempting to politically incapacitate Obama when it comes to striking within Syrian borders. As such, it will be interesting to watch this situation play out over the next few weeks.

Investors Already Looking Ahead to Next Week

As a result of this week’s quiet nature, investors are already looking ahead to next week and the boatload of economic activity that is expected to take place. Chief among investors’ concerns is the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting being held in the United States. There is talk of raised interest rates in the US, and the market will be wanting to find out any information about this interest rate hike. Just this week, in fact, a survey from the San Francisco Federal Reserve indicated that investors might seriously be underestimating how quickly the Fed can raise interest rates.

In other news, next week is also playing host to a referendum meant to determine the fate of Scotland. The referendum is simple; it will ask whether the voter wishes Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom or become an independent nation (ie Ireland). The result of the referendum will have major implications for Scotland, the UK, and the British Pound, so it makes sense that investors will be paying incredibly close attention in both the lead-up and aftermath of the referendum.

After beginning the day trending downward, precious metals finished the day and week having made very small gains. This whole week was littered with economic activity and data, but these past two days have been the most active of the four-day week. Yesterday brought about the European Central Bank’s most recent policy meeting while today yielded investors the most recent non-farm payrolls data from the United States.

The attention of investors also shifted to the crisis in Ukraine this week, but it ended up not having too much of an impact on the spot values of precious metals. There was talk of a ceasefire agreement being reached between Russia, Ukraine, and pro-Russian rebels, but it was later found out that no such agreement was ever reached. As a result, the violence throughout much of the Eastern half of Ukraine continues to rage on.

ECB Announces Rate Cuts, US Employment Data Disappoints

Though there was a good amount of economic data made public this week, activity on Thursday and Friday caught the attention of investors more than anything else. Yesterday before US markets opened, it was announced that the European Central Bank would be reducing the EU’s refinancing rate to an all-time record low of 0.05%. Not only that, but ECB president Mario Draghi also laid out the framework for a new monetary policy that very closely resembles Quantitative Easing.

As you could have probably guessed, this news prompted the US Dollar to make impressive strides forward against the Euro currency. In fact, most experts are expecting the Euro to continue declining against the strengthening greenback.

Today, the marketplace shifted its attention to the United States and the non-farm payrolls report that was set to be made public. Despite preliminary expectations holding that more than 210,000 new jobs were created in August, the actual figures came back much weaker than that. According to the report, the United States economy only added a little more than 140,000 new non-farm jobs. This news prompted the US Dollar as well as US equities to peg downward a bit. This also caused the spot values of precious metals to tick up ever so slightly.

As we look ahead to next week, you can expect another action-packed 5 day trading session. There isn’t all that much economic data on the slate, but there will be plenty of attention paid to the progress of the US Dollar as well as US equity markets.