Metals Weekly Round-Up: Gold Passes US$1,900 and Stays There

Gold broke past the US$1,900 per ounce mark this week, driven by a weakening US dollar and mounting safe haven demand. Climbing as high as US$1,905 on Friday (July 24) morning, the yellow metal has added more than 5 percent to its value since Monday (July 20).

Its ascent has not yet taken it past its previous high of around US$1,920, set in September 2011.

Silver also had a stellar performance, adding 16 percent this week and holding above US$22 an ounce.

Much of the yellow metal’s price growth over the last four months has resulted from the economic upset caused by COVID-19. Mass money printing, quantitative easing and stimulus have all made gold more alluring as the US dollar becomes increasingly devalued.

This was a sentiment reiterated by Lobo Tiggre, founder and editor of Independent Speculator, during a Wednesday (July 22) interview.

Watch Tiggre discuss both gold and silver above.

“In terms of what’s going on, everybody’s got their favorite answers. I’m of the camp that really this is all about the money printing. The easy money, the Fed’s uber-unprecedented actions making the previously unprecedented actions look small by comparison,” he said.

Tiggre is bullish on both gold and silver, but wouldn’t be surprised to see a period of corrections as the metals soar to new heights.

“I would not be surprised to see gold eventually double from here and silver go to triple digits and maybe more, who knows,” said Tiggre. “But that doesn’t mean it has to go straight there.”

At 9:22 a.m. EDT on Friday, an ounce of gold was valued at US$1,901.

As mentioned, silver has made significant gains, climbing from US$19.59 on Monday to US$22.84. The white metal’s price growth this week marks its best performance in almost three decades.

The white metal is now at seven year highs, and its safe haven characteristics have made exchange-traded funds increasingly appealing. All-time yearly inflows were surpassed in the first half of 2020.

While discussing gold’s Q2 performance, Johann Wiebe, lead metals analyst at Refinitiv, took the time to talk to about the value of silver.

“Silver is widely discussed as an opportunity in the market; based on the ratio with gold it is cheap,” he said. “I see further upside for silver, although capped somewhat due to its industrial element and aboveground stock … Nevertheless, silver remains an opportunistic leveraged play on gold.”

As of 10:01 a.m. EDT on Friday, silver was priced at US$22.81.

Platinum was also in the positive this week. Monday saw the metal trading in the US$842 per ounce range, steadily edging higher. The metal’s weekly high came mid-week, when it hit US$923.

Shedding some of that growth later in the week, platinum is still shy of its year-to-date high of US$1,022, set in mid-January.

Platinum was trading for US$918 at 10:08 a.m. EDT on Friday.

Breaking past US$2,000 an ounce, palladium added more than 6 percent to its price this week. Weak industrial demand has been offset by rising COVID-19 numbers out of South Africa, a primary producer of both platinum and palladium.

The catalyst metal was moving for US$2,125 on Friday morning.

The base metals space also saw broad increases, with the exception of lead, which fell lower.

Copper made firm gains, climbing above US$6,500. The red metal hit a year-to-date high last week before retreating; it is now within range of surpassing US$6,545.

“The fact that the copper price is now back above where it was pre-pandemic suggests that the coronavirus pandemic has led to an overall improvement in the metal’s fundamental outlook,” Kieran Clancy of Capital Economics said during a Q2 recap.

As of 11:00 a.m. EDT on Friday, copper was selling for US$6,533.50.

Zinc made more modest gains, adding 1.6 percent over the week. The metal is still well off its year-to-date high, but is in price territory similar to February. Zinc was priced at US$2,207 on Friday morning.

Nickel prices continue to gain support from supply chain woes. This week saw the metal add 2 percent to its value as it continues to move away earlier lows.

During an interview, Roskill Senior Analyst Jack Anderson said, “We expect primary refined nickel supply to decline by a little more than 1 percent year-on-year in 2020 because of the disruptions.”

He continued, “However, Indonesian nickel pig iron production has soared through early 2020, which has helped to make up for falls in refined nickel supply elsewhere.”

Nickel ended the session trading for US$13,460 per tonne.

Lead was the only base metal to slip lower this week. Despite the modest price shedding, the metal is now in its pre-pandemic price range. But is still over US$200 off its January high of US$2,026.

Lead was valued at US$1,794.50 per tonne on Friday.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Georgia Williams, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.