Closing Gold & Silver Market Report – 4/17/2013

Ted Prince

4/17/2013 4:12:00 PM

GOLD CONTINUES DECLINE ON PLETHORA OF ECONOMIC FEARS

Precious Metals and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both suffered another session of losses today. In the wake of the poor performance of both asset classes, traders were drawn to the strength of the U.S. dollar, which rallied against a basket of competing currencies. A stronger U.S. dollar versus a weakening yen is one of a number of theories Wall Street analysts are proposing as a root cause for the major decline in Gold since last Friday. Fear of central bank Gold selling (namely Cyprus and the potential for similar action by other struggling nations in the eurozone), ETF liquidation and global deflation fears are other factors that market experts are claiming as contributors to this past week’s major sell-off. Many analysts are now wondering if the recent negative action will inspire more panic selling or if the herd of sellers has now been depleted, leaving depressed Gold and Silver prices wide open for Precious Metals bargain hunters.

As commodities endured their sell-off, poor earnings data and concern over global growth caused the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to decline heavily Wednesday. The Dow experienced another volatile session which saw the index fall almost 140 points, putting it on track for its poorest performing week of 2013. Fear appears to be permeating all markets at present causing prolonged sell-offs in Gold and stocks. "Given the weakened technical picture, the market didn't need a significant catalyst for a sharp sell-off," wrote Elliot Spar, market strategist at Stifel Nicolaus. "However, just too many things going wrong in short period of time, brings out sellers and selling begets more selling."

At 4 p.m. (EDT), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1380.20, Down $10.20.
• Silver, $23.40, Down $0.33.
• Platinum, $1427.00, Down $24.60.
• Palladium, $663.20, Down $16.00.

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.