Mid-Day Gold & Silver Market Report – 8/7/2014

Peter LaTona

8/7/2014 11:58:00 AM

NATO SAYS RUSSIA SET TO INVADE UKRAINE

Gold prices bounced off lows this morning on NATO’s warning that Russia is set to invade eastern Ukraine. Russia has massed some 20,000 troops on the pretext of mounting a humanitarian mission, but NATO officials are not buying it. Oana Lungescu, a NATO spokesman, said, “We're not going to guess what's on Russia's mind, but we can see what Russia is doing on the ground – and that is of great concern. [Moscow could use] the pretext of a humanitarian or peace-keeping mission as an excuse to send troops into eastern Ukraine.” U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel added,  “When you see the build-up of Russian troops and the sophistication of those troops, the training of those troops, the heavy military equipment that's being put along that border, of course it's a reality, it's a threat, it's a possibility – absolutely.”

The NATO announcement pushed stocks lower through midday trading. European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi is concerned that “heightened geopolitical risks, as well as developments in emerging-market economies and global financial markets, may have the potential to affect economic conditions negatively. We are strongly determined to safeguard the firm anchoring of inflation expectations over the medium to long term.” Draghi has made it clear the ECB will employ a version of quantitative easing if their medium-term outlook on inflation were to change.

At 1:00 p.m. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,313.50 Up $5.30
• Silver, $20.00 Down $0.04
• Platinum, $1,480.80 Up $15.60
• Palladium, $856.60 Up $6.80

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