Gold and Silver See Little Weekly Change, Yearly Gains

APMEX

12/30/2022 1:39:58 PM

Last week, gold and silver secured modest gains as mixed economic data drove conflicting sentiment among investors. This week was a shortened trading week as major markets were closed on Monday, the 26th in observance of the Christmas holiday. This week, precious metals prices were reactive to Treasury yield and dollar movements, amid thinner holiday trading volumes. For economic news, investors looked to housing data throughout the week and jobless data, which was set for release on Thursday. 

Gold and silver started the trading week at $1,801 and $23.89, respectively. The pair edged higher on Tuesday, as a weaker dollar fueled gold gains to a six-month high near $1,830. Higher Treasury yields capped gains for precious metals, as gold ended the day near $1,812, and silver at $23.98. 

On Tuesday, news broke that China would begin loosening some Covid-19 quarantine requirements on international arrivals. This resulted in some optimism on Wall Street, and slight gains for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, while the Nasdaq Composite tumbled by 1.5%. 

Gold saw slight pressure on Wednesday from an uptick in the US dollar, but the lack of any major catalysts meant gold would remain in a tight range between $1,804 and $,1814 through Thursday. Housing data released from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), on Wednesday showed that U.S. pending home sales dropped by 4% in November when the expectation was closer to 1.8%. This marked the sixth consecutive monthly decline in the index.

Stocks in the U.S. tumbled on Wednesday, aided by thinner volumes and disappointing housing news. By the end of trading, the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 had fallen by nearly 1.4% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped by 1%. 

Thursday’s jobless claims data from the Department of Labor revealed that Initial jobless claims rose by 9,000 to 225,000 from the prior week when 223,000 was forecasted. Despite the slightly higher-than-expected jobless claims, Equities surged on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite gained the most at 2.7%, while the Dow Jones and S&P 500 rose by 1.1% and 1.8%, respectively. 

Precious metals saw little change on Thursday, as gold hovered near $1,814 and silver near $23.98. On the same day, data from The World Gold Council showed that central banks are buying gold at their fastest pace since 1967. Russia and China were among some of the biggest buyers of gold in the past year. 

Stocks fell on Friday, as Wall Street closed out its worst year since 2008. As this is written, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is down by nearly 34% for this year. The S&P 500 is 20% lower in 2022, and the Dow is down by 9% for the same timeframe. 

Currently, gold is at $1,817 which is barely higher for the week. Zooming out, gold is closing in on a 9.1% quarterly gain, and 0.5% yearly gain, despite pressure from higher interest rates. Silver will see little weekly change at $23.86 but is 4% higher for 2022.