Morning Gold & Silver Market Report – 3/15/2013

Geoffrey Varner

3/18/2013 8:57:00 AM

EUROZONE TURMOIL RETURNS; GOLD ABOVE $1,600

Cyprus and consequently the euro are back in the news as international lenders agreed to approve a 10 billion euro ($12.9 billion) bailout for Cyprus. This time the bailout comes with a price tag; Cyprus must pay for part of its bailout through an imposed tax on bank deposits. The tax is expected to raise about 5.8 billion euro, but the precedent is setting a tone of fear in other troubled countries such as Italy and Spain. The news put downward pressure on the euro, but boosted the dollar. Ilya Spivak, currency strategist at DailyFX said the Cyprus bailout plan “has pushed the euro sharply lower at the start of the trading week amid rising fears of mass capital flight.” He continues on to say that investors across the zone could scramble to move their capital out of the region.

The plan in Cyprus has injected weakness into the equities market, but in a classic move for Gold, it is back above $1,600 for the first time in more than two weeks. Risk and uncertainty like the bank shakeup in Cyprus commonly sends investors to safe haven investments like Gold. Credit Suisse commodity analyst Karim Cherif said, “With what is going on in Cyprus right now, investors are looking for some hedges and Gold is benefiting from that.” Gold’s safe haven appeal had been waning in recent months as investors were moving toward higher risk assets on economic recovery beliefs.

At 9:07 a.m. (EDT), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,609.20, Up $14.10.
• Silver, $29.02, Up $0.10.
• Platinum, $1,583.50, Down $10.90.
• Palladium, $761.40, Down $13.30.

APMEX’s Account Managers now have extended hours Mondays through Thursdays and are here to serve you until 7 p.m. (CDT)! Or call us Fridays until 5 p.m. (CDT)! If you have any questions about investing in Precious Metals or simply would prefer to place your order by telephone, we are here to help.