Closing Gold & Silver Market Report – 1/17/2013

OPTIMISTIC U.S. NEWS BOOSTS METALS; AAA STATUS IN JEOPARDY

Precious Metals prices edged up today as the Labor Department confirmed weekly unemployment benefit applications dropped to the lowest level since January 2008. Also, the Commerce Department stated that new home construction rose by 12.1 percent in December, proving the U.S. economy is experiencing growth. U.S. credit rating agency Fitch announced earlier this week the U.S. could potentially lose its AAA status if there is a repeat of the 2011 fiasco over increasing the country's debt. “The broader debate that is going to happen in the U.S. in the run-up to the debt ceiling crisis point at the end of February is going to be supportive of gold. Talks of downgrades from the major rating agencies will be part of it,” Credit Suisse analyst Tom Kendall said.

Crude oil prices rose today after a natural-gas plant attack in Algeria by Islamist militants, which resulted in a fatal hostage situation. “The nasty reawakening of geopolitical tensions always carries a premium for energy prices,” Matthew Parry, senior oil-market analyst at the International Energy Agency, said.

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

• Gold, $1,689.20, Up $4.00.
• Silver, $31.79, Up $0.21.
• Platinum, $1,694.30, Up $0.20.
• Palladium, $726.90, Down $0.60.

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