Weekly Round-Up: Gold Price Drops on Chinese Holiday

Gold prices dropped drastically over the week, with the Chinese markets being shut down for the Chinese National Day holiday and further speculations of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates being key factors.
As of Friday at 12:06 p.m. EST, the yellow metal was $1,247.65 per ounce–an overall loss of 4.85 percent–bringing the gold price to its lowest levels since the Brexit in June.
CNBC noted on Tuesday the markets being shut down in China between October 1 and 9 for the holiday have also limited physical gold demand.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that strong US economic data strengthened chances of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, which also contributed to gold price dropping to a four-month low.
Looking over to the silver prices, the white metal sharply declined over the week, bringing the price to a three-month low. As of 12:28 p.m. EST on Friday, the silver price was $17.20 per ounce–an overall loss of 10.37 percent for the five-day period.
Early Friday, the Economic Calendar suggested the silver prices “could be due for a major correction Friday,” or could see a further decline depending on the outcome of US nonfarm payrolls.

Looking over to the base metals sector, copper prices saw a decline for most of the week, however by Friday it appeared to be on the rise again. Over the five-day period, the copper price saw a decline of 0.86 percent. As of 12:30 p.m. EST the base metal was $2.15 per pound.
On Thursday, the Economic Calendar noted that the copper price was starting to look stable again after a shaky start to the week, although copper trading was quiet due to the holiday in China.
Lastly, spot oil prices were on the rise over the week, jumping over $50 per barrel, in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew causing disruptions in the southeastern US.
The increase in the oil price marked its highest settlement since June, however by Friday it had gone down under $50 per barrel. As of 12.40 p.m. EST, the spot oil price was $49.52, an overall increase of 1.79 percent for the five-day period.
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