Concerns Surrounding North Korea Helped Gold Prices, But Not For Long

Cassie Bastien

7/5/2017 10:36:33 AM

Daily Gold & Silver Market Report – 07/05/2017

ANZ Research said in a note, “Safe-haven buying re-emerged in the Gold market after the latest missile test in North Korea,” while the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting minutes are also in focus. On Wednesday, North Korea said its newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) can carry a large nuclear warhead, triggering a call by Washington for global action to hold it accountable for pursuing nuclear weapons (NASDAQ, Reuters). When such uncertainty arises, investors tend to veer from riskier assets and invest into more safe-haven assets such as Precious Metals. However, this rally, or lack thereof, did not last very long nor was very telling to world markets. Reporters Nithin Prasad and Vijaykumar Vedala said, “Investors were waiting for the minutes of the Fed's June meeting, due at 1800 GMT, to gauge how committed the central bank is to hiking rates again this year. They are also looking for any detail on plans to wind back the Fed's massive balance sheet.”

• The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies slipped 0.1 percent to 96.154 (NASDAQ.com).

Silver Reaches Lowest Level of 2017

Investors remain on edge after watching Silver prices reach their lowest levels of the year Wednesday. Meanwhile, EconomicCalendar.com Reporter Sam Bourgi says the U.S. dollar (advancing 0.2 percent to 96.43) strengthened against a basket of world currencies ahead of an active second-half of the week. But the main concern comes after North Korea successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile. Bourgi says the U.S. has condemned the missile launch and called on the United Nations to act. Although the missile test did boost the demand for haven-like assets, it was not a very significant bump.

At 11:55 a.m. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,223.80 Down $21.10
• Silver, $16.19 Down $0.53
• Platinum, $909.10 Down $18.30
• Palladium, $849.50 Up $2.90

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