Silver Doubles Gold's Gain

Cassie Bastien

7/18/2017 12:51:14 PM

Daily Gold & Silver Market Report – 07/18/2017

BullionVault.com reports spot Gold price gains of 0.5 percent “were doubled by Silver bullion in London trade Monday as world stock markets stalled at new all-time highs and major government bond prices rose.” Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault, said, “Gold price gains were muted in non-dollar terms as the U.S. currency extended its recent drop, while Silver recovered the lows of its July 3 slump at $16.19 per ounce.” Additionally, Platinum reached its one-month high to $934 per ounce. Currency strategist Steven Barrow at Chinese-owned investment and bullion bank ICBC Standard said, “Domestic factors in the U.S., and especially weak inflation data, suggest that yields will edge back down.” Additionally, further rate hikes remain in sight as investors await clues as to when and how much.

Dollar Falls, Gold Prices Rise as U.S. Reform Hopes Dim

The U.S. dollar slid to 11-month lows, interest rates eased back from recent highs and European stocks dropped, all of which, according to Bloomberg Reporter Samuel Potter, helped Gold reach a July high. Potter explains, “The greenback lost ground against all but one of its G-10 peers on signs [President Donald] Trump’s healthcare reform bill is effectively dead in its current form, after two more Republican senators announced their opposition to the plan.” Moreover, major U.S. equity indexes were lower and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell following a grim earnings report from Ericsson AB. Rodrigo Catril, a currency strategist at National Australia Bank Ltd. in Sydney, said “Near term, the dollar path of least resistance is down. We still think the data -- inflation in particular -- will provide the [Federal Reserve] with enough ammunition to hike in December and boost the dollar, but this is a fourth-quarter story.”

• The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell four basis points to 2.27 percent after dropping five basis points last week.
• Gold prices climbed 0.6 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both fell 0.2 percent (Bloomberg.com).

Goldman’s Worst Quarter Ever in Commodities Trading

According to CNBC, Goldman Sachs recorded its worst commodities quarter on record since going public more than 73 quarters ago. Finance editor Jeff Cox says, “The trading issue has gotten so pronounced that even a quarter when the investment banking behemoth surprised analysts with a stronger profit than the year-ago period, it wasn't enough to keep the stock from falling.” Currencies and commodities are falling at a greater rate than other investments. Cox says, “Trading revenue in general declined 18 percent in the second quarter” and [Fixed Income Clearing Corporation] fell a whopping 40 percent. Goldman Sachs Chief Financial Officer Martin Chavez said on a conference call with analysts, “Not surprisingly given the results, it was a difficult quarter on all fronts. The market backdrop was challenged, client activity remained light and we didn't navigate the market as well as we aspired to and as well as we have in the past.”

At 1:50 p.m. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,245.00 Up $8.10
• Silver, $16.38 Up $0.17
• Platinum, $931.70 Down $0.60
• Palladium, $872.80 Down $0.80

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