Closing Gold & Silver Market Report – 12/27/2012

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE DOWN; MARKETS HINGE ON POLITICIANS’ WORDS

Consumer confidence is at a four month low, presumably because of the financial crisis. Prior to the release of the consumer data, there was a growing sense of optimism about the economy. Economists at RBS in Stamford, Conn. wrote in a research note what has been on everyone’s mind recently: “Consumers are increasingly preoccupied with the potential damage the fiscal cliff will cause to the economy and to their wallets if a deal is not reached soon.” There is still good news to be had though; jobless claims are falling to lows not seen in nearly 4 and 1/2 years, and home sales are rising.

The stock market saw another day of losses today, but reduced some losses after the sharp drop early in the trading session. The see-saw effect of political talk helped bring the market back when word came out that the U.S. House of Representatives would reconvene Sunday night. The Gold price settled a little higher Thursday due to the same uncertainty that is likely to plague us for the next few days. The U.S. dollar increased following the positive jobless report, which put some pressure on the Gold price, illustrating the negative correlation between the U.S. dollar and Gold.

At 5 p.m. (EST), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,665.00, Up $4.00.
• Silver, $30.22, Up $0.17.
• Platinum, $1,534.80, Down $3.20.
• Palladium, $709.00, Up $15.60.

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