Gold and silver spot values conceded some ground earlier in the day but were able to bounce back and end even when markets closed. Some US economic data made its way to the market today, but it didn’t have all too much of an impact. Generally, this week has been pretty quiet due to a lack of economic data and the continued focus on the violence in Iraq. So long as the civil war in the Middle Eastern nation continues, it will be very difficult for other, riskier assets to gain any ground.
As we head into the final two days of the week most people are expecting to see much of the same continued attention being placed on the violence in Iraq. In addition, attention will also be drawn to the geopolitical tensions that persist all over Ukraine.
1st Quarter GDP Report Has Little Impact On Market
After the day session opened up with gold and silver spot values feeling a lot of pressure, a few lackluster US economic reports quickly turned things around in precious metals’ favor. The United States’ first quarter GDP report for 2014 came in at down almost 3% despite expectations that it would have increased. What’s more, durable goods orders for the United States in May were down by about 1%. Both of these reports worked to fuel risk-aversion and helped spot values recover from early morning losses.
Also helping gold and silver both today and this week is the ongoing violence in Iraq. The civil war and all the violence that has come along with it has been providing gold and silver with a boost over the last few weeks and will more than likely continue to do so until the violence winds down. The first US military advisers were reported as having landed in Baghdad, which was an event everyone in Iraq has been waiting for. It will be interesting to see how this budding civil war develops over the course of the next few days and weeks.
