Gold and silver spot values finished the day sharply up after the FOMC’s minutes were not nearly as insightful as many had previously hoped. Palladium and Platinum also had great days on Wednesday, though these two metals have been performing well for the past month or more.
Safe-haven demand is once again on the rise as a result of increased violence in the Middle East. As we look forward to the last few days of the week, all signs are pointing towards a trading atmosphere that will be extremely quiet and mostly uneventful.
FOMC Minutes Provide Little Useful Information For Investors
The biggest and really only piece of economic data being made public this week came today in the form of the FOMC’s minutes from their June meeting. Prior to today, investors the world over were hoping to hear something with regard to when the Fed plans on altering interest rates in the United States.
When the minutes were made public, the market was mostly let down due to the simple fact that they offered almost nothing in the way of useful information regarding interest rates in the United States. What the minutes did say, however, was that the FOMC plans on completely doing away with Quantitative Easing by no later than this October. This news was not really news at all as most of the market had already expected QE to be done away with before the turn of the new year.
What gave gold and silver a boost, however, was reports of increased violence in and around the Gaza Strip. The Israeli-controlled territory has been subjected to random airstrikes for the last few days, but today marked the first day of all-out military strikes on the disputed strip of land. This situation is still very premature, but it will likely continue fueling safe-haven demand for metals as we head further into this week and beyond.
