Closing Gold & Silver Market Report – 8/21/2014

Ted Prince

8/21/2014 3:57:00 PM

GOLD LOWER AS FED INTEREST RATE POLICY EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN DOLLAR

The anticipation of higher U.S. interest rates helped elevate the dollar versus competing world currencies today.  The stronger dollar forced Gold down nearly $20 an ounce at one point to its lowest level in two months.  “Any hint that there’ll be more definitive action coming from the Fed is not going to be bullish for gold,” Tom Kendall, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG, said. “The market is still highly sensitive to expectations of what the Fed will do and when.”  Also notable among Precious Metals is the slump Platinum has entered.  With today’s drop, Platinum is nearing its longest stretch of losses in almost thirty years. 

The S&P 500 is set to realize another record close today.  Strong economic reports and expectations of a benign message from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen regarding unemployment in the U.S. temporarily eased the anxiety of equities investors.  “In the end, Janet Yellen is the chair, and from the way she's voted in the past, and from the message that she's articulated, she wants broad-based strength in labor markets before moving to a higher-rate environment. We don't see the debate (within the FOMC) as changing the likely outcome," Rhoda at Wells Fargo Private Bank said.

At 5 p.m. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,278.50 Down $17.70
• Silver, $19.46 Down $0.08
• Platinum, $1,420.20 Down $9.00
• Palladium, $880.20 Up $10.80

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