EUROZONE WORRIES MOUNT; PRECIOUS METALS ON THE MOVE
Precious Metals prices have been fairly volatile on eurozone debt fears and the escalation of violence and rhetoric involving Syria. Analyst Robin Bhar said, “Gold is capped on the upside by disappointment post-Fed, while on the downside, we have some bargain hunting, and a bit of physical buying into the troughs. … We are stuck in a fairly small range here, in the $1,570 to $1,600 area, certainly until the weekend, when we will get to hear more on how the eurozone will be (tackled).”
The eurozone debt issues continue to escalate after the announcement of a fifth eurozone nation applying for aid. Although Cyprus, the fifth nation seeking aid, is a much smaller “hit,” the combined effect of rising Italian and Spanish yields, Greek resolution, and monetary bailout has European leadership at a crucial crossroads. A summit has been put together to overcome some hurdles the European Union is now facing. Basically the whole of Europe is interested in a single treasury and the euro bond, except Germany. But Germany is, at this point, the only truly solvent nation and facing its own issues in being the benchmark, as production and consumer sentiment in Germany has slid over the last couple of months. Chairman Jim O’Neill said, “The euro crisis is in some ways mind bogglingly simple to solve ... because it isn’t economics, it’s politics. … If (German Chancellor) Angela Merkel and her colleagues stood there together with the rest of the euro area … and if they behaved as a true union, this crisis would be finished this weekend.”
At 9 a.m. (EDT), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:
- Gold, $1,579.80, Down $9.10.
- Silver, $27.30, Down $0.33.
- Platinum, $1,436.10, Down $5.30.
- Palladium, $602.50, Down $5.80.
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