STOCKS ADD TO GAINS AFTER QE3; GOLD OUTLOOK POSITIVE
Global markets continue to rally today following Thursday’s announcement of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s aggressive bond-buying plan. News of the program lifted the S&P 500 to its highest single-day peak since January 2, 2008. The market reaction is not unexpected. Investors will await the long-term effects of the latest round of quantitative easing (QE3) as the Federal Reserve announced it will inject $40 billion dollars a month into the U.S. economy until the jobs market realizes prolonged growth.
Bullish investors are still impeded by one final obstacle as Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy continues to delay acceptance of the European Central Bank’s stimulus package which was announced last week. Economists continue to assert that a bailout is inevitable and necessary for the country which currently renders one out of four workers jobless. Rajoy “needs to bite the bullet on aid while the going is relatively good,” Michael Derks of FXPro in London said, in a note. “The current market calm is merely a facade created by a fortuitous alignment of various forces. Better to get pen to paper now, rather than be forced kicking and screaming in a few months time.”
As expected, the announcement of QE3 caused a significant spike in the Gold price on Thursday. Though it has traded relatively flat today, analysts predict continued upward movement for the metal as the Fed gears up to indefinitely pump funds into the struggling U.S. economy. “You’ve got Gold, a fixed quantity, and central banks printing more money. Ergo, Gold becomes more expensive,” said Richard Cookson, global chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank. “The cost of holding Gold is zip, because interest rates are effectively zero. So you print more currency, and the Gold price goes up because you price in that extra currency.”
At 1:00 p.m. (EDT), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:
- Gold, $1,773.90, Up $2.80.
- Silver, $34.71, Down $0.08.
- Platinum, $1,714.60, Up $34.10.
- Palladium, $701.20, Up $12.20.
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