Value of Gold Falls

Cassie Bastien

6/1/2017 1:50:30 PM

Daily Gold & Silver Market Report – 06/01/2017

MarketWatch Market and Commodities Reporters Myra Saefong and Rachel Koning Beals report that “a robust snapshot of private-sector hiring provided support for the dollar and backed expectations for a U.S. interest-rate hike later this month,” causing Gold prices to fall Thursday. Payroll processor ADP said data from today report showed private-sector employers added a seasonally adjusted 253,000 new jobs in May. Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics, which helps produce the report, called job growth “rip-roaring,” causing investors to pull back from the yellow metal before May's job report release Friday. The report is “largely expected to include strong enough numbers that would all but confirm the Federal Reserve’s willingness to raise interest rates in two weeks.” Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at Forex.com, told MarketWatch the outlook for Gold is uncertain, saying, “Gold has been supported up until now by soft U.S. dollar, but it requires a stock-market correction to push significantly higher from here.”

The Supply and Demand of Silver

According the Silver Institute and the research team from GFMS at Thomson Reuters, “Silver mine production declined in 2016 for the first time since 2002.” Furthermore, Mike Fuljenz with TownHall said, “The gap between supply and demand also turned negative with 1,007.1 million ounces of supply and 1,027.8 million ounces of demand, creating a 20.7 million-ounce deficit, which puts upward pressure on Silver prices.” Keeping in mind that Silver is not only a Precious Metal but also an industrial metal, so new applications for the gray metal provide the biggest boost in the demand curve. For example, Fuljenz said, “demand for Silver in photovoltaic applications rose 34 percent to over 76 million ounces, driven mostly by a 49 percent increase in solar panel installations last year.” However, with the help of growth within technology, the new industrial applications of Silver have taken the place of photographic demand.

• As of May 25, the U.S. Mint reported sales of the American Eagle Silver bullion coin during May have already doubled the sales total of April (TownHall.com).

President Trump Threatens to back out of Paris Climate Deal

According to Patrick Gillespie with CNNMoney.com, President Donald Trump “has slammed the global agreement as bad for U.S. jobs despite its widespread support from corporate America ... because it cracks down on coal and other old school energy sectors.” Experts say President Trump will impede but not fully interrupt the current trend of increasing jobs in cleaner energies, such as natural gas, solar and wind. Karl Hausker, Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute, says, “If Trump withdraws from the Paris agreement it can slow that momentum but it will not stop it.” However, some Republicans say the Paris agreement would be a job killer for this country. Gillespie says,  “solar industry job growth expanded 17 times faster last year than overall U.S. job growth. Meanwhile coal employment barely grew last year, adding less than 2,000 jobs.” On the other hand, Gillespie explains, “some oil CEOs, such as ExxonMobil's Darren Woods, are coming out in favor of the Paris agreement, arguing it’s the best attempt at addressing the challenges of global climate change ...[and benefiting] natural gas, an area Exxon is pouring a lot of its resources into.”

At 2:50 a.m. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,269.70 Down $5.70
• Silver, $17.38 Down $0.14
• Platinum, $934.70 Down $18.10
• Palladium, $829.80 Up $7.80

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