Weekly Round-Up: Gold Price Set to Make Second Weekly Gain

After a strong week, the gold price was on track for a second weekly gain on Friday (March 24). As of midday, investors were awaiting the outcome of the US healthcare reform vote. 
Some market watchers believe that if President Donald Trump’s new healthcare system fails to pass, his ambitious agenda may face other headwinds. Gold, which is a safe-haven asset, has benefited from these concerns.
“This is a key event not just for gold but for all risk assets,” said Robin Bhar at Societe Generale (EPA:GLE). “We should see some safe haven flows into gold if he can’t get it passed because it means all his other programmes have a low probability of succeeding.” 
The vote is scheduled to take place at 3:30 p.m. EST on Friday. As of 1:00 p.m. EST the gold price was sitting at $1,248.20 per ounce.
On a similar note, the silver price had made a weekly gain of 2 percent by Friday, and was also on track for a second straight weekly gain. Like gold, it has been supported by concerns about the US healthcare vote. As of 1:00 p.m. EST on Friday, the white metal was trading at $17.72 per ounce.

The platinum price was up 0.6 percent on Friday at $964.36 per ounce, while palladium was up 1.6 percent at $812 per ounce. The precious metals have been pushed up by strong economic data and demand from the automobile sector.
On the base metals side, London copper is set to drop 2 percent for the week; it has been pressured by the end of a strike at Chile’s Escondida mine. Meanwhile, zinc fell 0.9 percent to $2,830 per tonne, lead ceded 0.3 percent to hit $2,360 per tonne and nickel fell 0.9 percent to reach $9,940 per tonne.

Finally, spot oil prices were set to log their third weekly loss in a month after a string of US inventory reports suggested that output cuts by OPEC are not reducing global oversupply.
May West Texas Intermediate crude rose 6 cents, or less than 0.1 percent, to reach $47.73 a barrel on the NYMEX. May Brent crude added 3 cents, or about 0.1 percent, to hit $50.68 a barrel — it’s on pace for a weekly loss of about 2.2 percent.

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates.
Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

---

This article is updated each week. Please scroll to the top for the most recent information.

Weekly Round-Up: Gold Price Climbs on Fed Interest Rate Hike
By Jocelyn Aspa, March 17, 2017
The gold price rallied this week following the news that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for the second time in three months.
The announcement came on Wednesday (March 15), and it pushed the gold price well over the $1,200-per-ounce mark. The yellow metal has managed to stay above that level since then. By Friday at 1:57 p.m. EST, it had edged up to $1,229 and was up 1.9 percent over the five-day period.
Gold’s price increase surprised some market watchers as usually interest rate hikes have a negative impact on precious metals. However, it turned out that the hike had been priced into the market. Gold is now on track to record its biggest weekly increase since early February.
Silver, gold’s sister metal, was also impacted by the rate hike. On Wednesday, the white metal jumped to $17.13 an ounce, up from $16.92.
The Economic Calendar said Friday that the white metal was on track for its first weekly gain in three weeks. As of 1:55 p.m. EST that day, the silver price was $17.36 per ounce — that’s a 2.3-percent increase over five days.

Looking over to the base metals, the copper price also gained sharply this week. On Friday, Reuters said that the red metal had posted its sharpest gain since February on a weak US dollar and mine supply concerns.
As of 2:00 p.m. EST on Friday, the copper price was at $2.69 per pound having gained 2.26 percent over the five-day period.
Oil prices were also faring well on Friday. According to MarketWatch, April West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.1 percent on the NYMEX at $48.77 per barrel, while May Brent crude rose $0.01 to reach $51.75 on London’s ICE Futures Exchange.
The publication notes that prices were not affected by news of a “significant increase” in the number of active US oil rigs. Prices are now on track for their first weekly gain in three weeks.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates.
Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

---

This article is updated each week. Please scroll to the top for the most recent information.

Weekly Round-Up: Gold Price Drops Under $1,200
By Jocelyn Aspa, March 10, 2017
The gold price lost significant steam this week on better US employment data and signs that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its meeting next week. 
On Friday (March 10), Reuters reported that gold had fallen to its lowest price in over five weeks, dipping under the $1,200-per-ounce mark; meanwhile, MarketWatch said gold was heading for its second straight weekly loss. As of 1:32 p.m. EST on Friday, the yellow metal was at $1,201.86.
That said, there’s at least some hope that next week’s Fed meeting won’t push gold down further. “Even if interest rates rise, gold can rally with it as inflation returns back into focus,” Peter Spina, president and CEO of GoldSeek.com, told MarketWatch.
Gold’s sister metal, silver, had a similar week. It dropped 4.83 percent over the five-day period, falling from $17.71 per ounce at the beginning of the week to $16.86 as of 1:44 p.m. EST on Friday.
Economic Calendar notes that like gold, silver saw a “significant correction” in part due to US employment data. The publication also states that silver’s dip under $17 has “undermined confidence and triggered further selling pressure.”

Copper also had a rough week. According to Economic Calendar, the red metal plunged to a two-month low this week due to a higher US dollar and discouraging import data from China.
The news that mining powerhouse BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP,ASX:BHP,LSE:BLT) is considering using temporary workers to bring copper production back online at its Escondida mine has also not helped the copper price. As of 2:00 p.m. EST on Friday, copper was sitting at $2.59 per pound, down 2.49 percent over the five-day period.
Oil prices slumped this week as well, dropping more than 5 percent on Wednesday after data showed that oil stocks in the US have grown by 8.2 million barrels to 528.4 million barrels.
By Thursday, Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude were at $51.50 and $48.59 per barrel, respectively. According to Reuters, those are levels not seen since OPEC agreed to production cuts.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates.
Securities Disclosure: I, Jocelyn Aspa, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.