Weekly Round-Up: Gold Price Inches Higher as US Dollar Drops

Gold prices had an up-and-down week, but by Thursday were back on the rise as the US dollar and stock markets were on the decline.
As of Friday at 12:22 p.m. EST, the yellow metal was $1,255.80 per ounce–an overall loss 0f 0.28 percent over the five-day period. With the dollar also being down by a margin of 0.3 percent, Reuters noted that made gold more affordable to buy, using other currencies.
“Gold prices are having difficulty moving higher, but are also reluctant to move lower,” ABN AMRO commodity strategist Georgette Boele told Reuters. The publication also noted that some investors were turning to gold as stock markets dropped to three-week lows as a result of weak trade data from China.
Looking over to the silver prices, the white metal continued dropping over the week despite a softer US dollar. As of 1:29 p.m. EST on Friday, the white metal was trading at $17.43 per ounce, a dip of 1.42 percent over the five-day period.
Although the overall silver price was down over the week, the Economic Calendar wrote that the white metal was “on track for minor weekly gains” as precious metals looked as though a recovery was on track from its four-month lows.

On the base metals sector, copper prices saw a sharp decline over the week, falling to a one-month low on soft China data. As of 1:40 p.m. EST on Friday, the copper price had dropped 3.33 percent to $2.12 per pound.
The Daily Mail reported on Friday that the copper price falling was a result of of Europe’s biggest smelter cut the premium and plans to charge customers for copper cathode in the coming year.
Lastly, spot oil prices took a nose dive early in the week, but by Thursday looked to be on the rise again before dropping again on Friday. Reuters reported that the oil price dropped below $52 per barrel on supplies being outweighed by tight US fuel inventories and OPEC’s plans to cut output.
As of 1:50 p.m. EST, the oil price was trading at $50.13 per barrel–a decline of 2.01 percent over the week.
CNN Money reported Friday that Russian President Vladmir Putin set a draft budget over the next three years with an assumption that Russia will sell its oil for $40 per barrel–$10 below its current prices.
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