Daily Gold & Silver Market Report 4/16/2015

Marcey Hollon

4/16/2015 3:35:00 PM

GOLD FALLS ON DATA; U.S. HOUSING STARTS FALL WHILE JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE

A weaker demand for physical metal along with positive U.S. factory data has Gold below $1,200 per once on Thursday. The positive factory data showing accelerated activity in April helped the dollar index, which can weigh on Gold, recover from lows against a basket of currencies.  Analysts still believe soft U.S. data may cause the Federal Reserve to delay raising interest rates. "Given the lack of any other focus, we expect prices to continue to be buffeted by news of the state of the U.S. economy," Mitsui Precious Metals analyst David Jollie said.

"We believe that an initial rate rise is already largely priced in for gold, but as and when economic data diverges from the market's expectations, we expect this to affect the gold price and the rest of the precious metals."

U.S. housing starts had the largest drop since last May causing concern for the economy’s ability to bounce back after a soft first quarter. While the second quarter has expectations that market growth will rebound, the lukewarm housing starts report and struggling manufacturing sector suggest the economy may not be strong enough to raise interest rates by the Federal Reserve. The Labor Department reported a surprising number of people seeking unemployment benefits last week yet the trend continues to suggest a strengthening labor market. The Easter holiday and spring break for schools across the U.S. can skew the model used to smooth data. Claims numbers below 300,000 can be associated with a strengthening labor market and the four-week moving average reported 282,750 filed for last week.

 

At 2:31 p.m. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,201.60 Down $2.50
• Silver, $16.26 Down $0.02
• Platinum, $1,162.80 Up $5.20
• Palladium, $782.601 Up $13.60

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.