Mid-Day Gold & Silver Market Report – 6/16/2014

Peter LaTona

6/16/2014 12:01:00 PM

IMF CUTS U.S. GROWTH FORECAST – MOMENTUM IN U.S. ECONOMY IS FADING

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its growth rate for the U.S. economy this year from 2.8 percent to 2 percent. For the moment, they have maintained their 3 percent forecast for 2015. The Washington-based IMF also said that the Federal Reserve may need to keep interest rates at zero longer than investors might expect. The Fed is expected to continue tapering the bond buying program, but when they can begin to raise interest rates may be another question. The IMF is concerned that even if the Fed communicates its plan for raising interest rates, because it deals with multiple areas of uncertainty, we could experience significant swings in market flows and prices.

Iraq is keeping investors on edge. U.S. stocks are still in the negative, while Gold and Silver have maintained small gains throughout the morning trades. "It's a pretty slow start, just a focus on the M&A and the no-news on Iraq, so to speak. There wasn't too much movement over the weekend, and the economic data isn't particularly A-list. Crude is flat but at elevated levels," Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, said. The White House has indicated that they are willing to talk with Iran about the deteriorating security conditions in Iraq.

At 1 p.m. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,277.10, Up $1.00.
• Silver, $19.75, Down $0.05.
• Platinum, $1,440.80, Up $3.80.
• Palladium, $809.10, Down $3.40.

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