Mid-Day Gold & Silver Market Recap – 9/2/2014

Ted Prince

9/2/2014 12:38:39 PM

GOLD TO 2 ½ MONTH LOW AS DOLLAR STRENGTHENS

The U.S. dollar rallied to a one-year high this morning, forcing Gold down to its lowest level in 2 ½ months. Strength in the dollar and ongoing confidence among U.S. equities offset concerns about escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia. “It's when the dollar hits big numbers that Gold gets punished and this is clearly one of those moments,” Ross Norman, CEO of bullion broker Sharps Pixley, said. Domestic and overseas investors are closely eyeing the movement of global currencies this week as the European Central Bank (ECB) is scheduled to convene this week.  Many expect ECB President Mario Draghi to ramp up the region’s current level of market liquidity with asset purchases known as quantitative easing (QE).  The announcement of such measures would likely weaken the euro further, and bring the Gold price down with it, as the dollar would be strengthened by the potential inflationary result of such a program. 

U.S. stocks are trading somewhat lower to start the month following an August that saw the S&P 500 post its greatest rally since February.  Today’s dip comes despite reports that U.S. manufacturing expanded at its greatest pace in three years.  “The 2,000 area is still in play, and we’ve yet to move past it convincingly as it remains a speed bump in the short-term,” Joe Bell, senior equity analyst at Schaeffer’s Investment Research Inc., said. “The manufacturing index was better than expected, but after that strong rally we had through much of August, the market is taking a bit of a breather.”  Equities investors will also be eyeing the ECB summit this week as they try to discern the impact of heightened QE in the eurozone. 

At 1:37 p.m. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold price, $1,266.00 Down $22.40
• Silver price, $19.18 Down $0.31
• Platinum price, $1,411.60 Up $14.10
• Palladium price, $884.60 Up $24.90

APMEX’s Account Managers now have extended hours Mondays through Thursdays and are here to serve you until 8 p.m. (EDT)! Or call us Fridays until 6 p.m. (EDT)! 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.