Daily Gold & Silver Market Report – 12/30/2015

Brandi Brundidge

12/30/2015 1:15:00 PM

GOLD’S PERFORMANCE IN 2015; PESSIMISTIC VIEWS ON FED’S RATE HIKE

As the year comes to an end, it’s time to reflect on how Precious Metals prices have fluctuated through the many ups and downs the market encountered this year. Gold appears to be heading towards its third consecutive annual loss, which can be attributed to a few reasons. In 2014, the focus was on the Federal Reserve cutting back its quantitative easing measures at each policy meeting, which pressured Precious Metal prices throughout the year. In 2015, the Fed controlled the market once again with their initial plan to increase interest rates at the beginning of the year. In December, the Fed officially increased rates, which Precious Metals had somewhat factored into pricing throughout the year. "Physical demand in Gold continues to be relatively aggressive in the Far East compared with October and November, and on that basis Gold should be much higher, but there seems to be this pressure from the dollar, which continues to put a lid on the price. It looks like support is at $1,045 and $1,050, and resistance stands at $1,085/$1,095,” MKS SA head of trading Afshin Nabavi said.

Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group is cynical on how the Federal Reserve’s decision to increase interest rates will negatively affect the U.S. economy. "The Fed only has to move a little bit to have a broader ripple effect," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box". "A 25-basis-point rate hike has translated into much greater increases in the cost of capital for many companies.  This is a credit-driven economy as we know, so that rise in the cost of capital is going to have an impact, whether that's on company expansion plans, or whether that's on stock buyback plans,” Boockyar said. The Fed will meet for the first time in 2016 on January 26-27.

At 2:18 P.M. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,063.30 Down $7.90
• Silver, $13.94 Down $0.08
• Platinum, $871.90 Down $20.30
• Palladium, $549.00 Down $8.30

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