Mid-Day Gold & Silver Market Report – 3/21/2013

Ted Prince

3/21/2013 12:14:00 PM

WEAK ECONOMIC DATA, CONTINUED CYPRUS WOES BOOST PRECIOUS METALS

Gold has risen slightly today as concerns over Cyprus and the potential repercussions of the nation’s current predicament cast worrisome eyes on the plight of the eurozone. “There are reports that Cyprus might prefer to exit the euro than accept the conditions of the European Union for a bailout,” said Chintan Karnani, an independent bullion analyst based in New Delhi. “This will result in greater investment demand for Gold and other save havens.” The wavering confidence in banks, currency and government regulatory ability are themes expected to cause investors to seek out hard assets like Gold and Silver. Anxiety surrounding Cyprus and the eurozone coupled with less-than-stellar economic data from the U.S., Europe and China has driven Precious Metals up Thursday.

While Gold and Silver are benefiting from uncertainty surrounding the European debt crisis, the debacle in Cyprus has caused U.S. stocks to fall after the S&P 500 nearly reached a record high on Wednesday. Today’s dip comes amid a market rally that has seen the Dow Jones Industrial Average reach its all-time high and lend hope that the economy is in true recovery. However, some experts remain dubious when it comes to giving full confidence to the present state of equities markets. “We haven’t seen any major resolution to these issues we were hearing about a couple years ago in Europe, yet stocks have decided to really ignore what’s going on there and reach all-time highs anyway,” said Eric Thorne, who helps oversee about $6 billion at Bryn Mawr Trust Co. in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Attention will remain fixed on Europe as the European Central Bank has warned that they may halt the extension of emergency funds to Cyprus after March 25 if the island nation does not formulate a plan to avoid financial collapse.

At 1:10 pm (EDT), the APMEX precious metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1615.50, Up $5.50.
• Silver, $29.28, Up $0.39.
• Platinum, $1582.70, Down $1.80.
• Palladium, $756.80, Down $0.50.

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