GOLD HOLDS STEADY AS INVESTORS PONDER ‘SEQUESTER’
Precious Metals prices have been stable for the day as U.S. equities and economic signals remained flat. Ahead of U.S. government budget cuts, investors have been patiently waiting on the sidelines for any real agreement between the two political parties. The market still views Gold as a traditional asset during uncertain fiscal times, especially as a hedge against inflation. The European Central Bank plans to meet Thursday, but analyst suggest no real changes will be made to the interest rate policy and that a push for further easing is possible. The euro was slightly down throughout the weekend with negative manufacturing and employment data from Europe.
More than 70 percent of the 196 economists surveyed in the National Association for Business Economics’ poll are against the full implementation of $85 billion in federal cuts known as the “sequester.” According to the economists surveyed, politicians should instead plan to reduce the budget deficit over the next 10 years. “A significant majority of panelists was opposed to full budget sequestration,” NABE policy survey committee chairman Jay Bryson said in a statement. “However, there was nearly unanimous agreement that some form of deficit reduction should be enacted over the next 10 years,” said Bryson, who is also a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities.
At 5 pm (EST), the APMEX precious metals spot prices were:
- Gold, $1,575.00, Up $0.70.
- Silver, $28.58, Up $0.06.
- Platinum, $1,571.30, Down $4.20.
- Palladium, $717.50, Down $1.90.
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