Not Much Change in Silver Prices for Narrow Trade

Cassie Bastien

2/9/2017 10:10:00 AM

Daily Gold & Silver Market Report – 02/09/2017

As political uncertainty keeps Precious Metal demand high, Silver edged slightly higher Thursday set for another week of gains. EconomicCalendar.com reporter Sam Bourgi notes, “The grey metal has surged nearly 11 percent since the start of January. Its technical indicators suggest further upside is in store.” Also seeing continued gains Thursday is the U.S. dollar, which rose 0.1 percent Thursday against a basket of other currencies, setting it on track for its seventh consecutive gain. Bourgi said, “Washington’s protectionist stance has fueled investors’ flight to safe havens as markets fear an imminent trade war between West and East.”

How Could the U.S. Economy Impact Precious Metals?

Although President Donald Trump’s plan to increase infrastructure spending initially reduced uncertainty among investors, recent economic reports caused doubts to resurface. Market Realist Analyst Meera Shawn says, “Often, the higher the speculation over the health of the economy, the higher the demand could be for haven assets such as Gold and Silver. … Most of the time, fluctuations in Gold extend to mining funds such as the Sprott Gold Miners ETF and the iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners. These two funds have risen 22.4 percent and 22.3 percent, respectively, year-to-date.” U.S. economic news due this week could sway the Precious Metals market. Shawn closed saying, “The worse these economics numbers are, the better these metals could perform.”

Oil Up on U.S. Gasoline Stocks

An unexpected draw in U.S. oil inventories caused oil prices to rise Thursday. Reuters’ Christopher Johnson noted, “The fall in gasoline stocks suggested U.S. consumption was stronger than expected, and may be healthy enough to support prices at time when most fuel oil markets are very well stocked.” PVM Oil Associates Senior Analyst Tamas Varga echoed this sentiment, saying, “U.S. gasoline draws are supporting prices today. They are an indication of stronger U.S. demand.” Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients, “We do not view the recent excess U.S. builds as derailing our forecast for a gradual draw in inventories, with in fact the rest of the world already showing signs of tightness.” The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other big exporters recently agreed to reduce oil output by nearly 1.8 million barrels per day during the first half of 2017 in hopes of rebalancing the market.

At 11:10 A.M. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,236.80 Down $3.50
• Silver, $17.77 Down $0.02
• Platinum, $1,022.90 Up $4.50
• Palladium, $773.10 Up $1.90

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