Metals Weekly Round-Up: Gold Price Displays Resilience

Gold remained in the green on Friday (September 9) after seeing some volatility late in the week.

A strengthening US dollar pulled the yellow metal back late in the session, although fears of a prolonged economic recovery continued to benefit the precious metals.

The base metals weren’t as lucky, spending most of the second week of September trending lower.

Gold was on track to end the week higher after spending the last half of August moving lower. The currency metal started the week at US$1,929.70 per ounce before volatility brought it to US$1,913.

A subsequent rally drove the value of the yellow metal to US$1,962.80, a three week high.

While the metal continues to feel some pressure from renewed faith in the US greenback, Junior Stock Review’s Brian Leni believes there is still upside in gold.

“I do see some calamity ahead, and I don’t think that the money printing is going to stop any time soon,” Leni told the Investing News Network (INN). “And therefore I think we’re going to see much higher gold prices ahead.”

Watch the full interview with Leni above.

As of 10:31 a.m. EDT on Friday, gold was trading for US$1,948.43.

Silver also moved higher this week despite experiencing some headwinds mid-session. Its price fell to US$26.04 per ounce on Tuesday (September 8) and had surged past US$27 by Thursday (September 10).

After testing the US$29 threshold in August, the white metal has held below US$28. However, David Smith, senior analyst at the Morgan Report and a contributor to Money Metals, believes silver will hit US$30 and more.

“The resistance level is around US$30, and whether that happens within the next week or two, or it takes a month, (it’s) hard to say,” Smith told INN recently. “Once it gets a couple of closes above US$30, I think everybody is going to be jumping on board — the big funds and everything.”

Watch the full interview with Smith above.

Silver was priced at US$26.86 at 10:42 a.m. EDT on Friday.

The platinum price climbed 3 percent this session, reversing a steady decline that started in mid-August.

After dropping to US$600 per ounce in March, platinum has added 32 percent to its value and is approaching its year-to-date high of US$1,022, set on January 17. At 11:07 a.m. EDT on Friday, platinum was selling for US$932.50.

While the other precious metals experienced a price slump in mid-August, palladium’s story was the opposite. The automotive metal steadily ticked higher through the first week of September before facing some resistance.

Palladium started the session at US$2,197 per ounce, before slipping to US$2,135. By Friday morning, palladium was moving for US$2,208.

Copper felt pressure this session, but even though it ended the week 1 percent lower, the base metal has surpassed its January high of US$6,300 per tonne.

According to a Fastmarkets overview, a dip in Chinese demand has impacted the metal this week, but the firm expects its price to move north of US$7,000 soon.

“Copper has continued trading at nearly its highest since June 2018, proving to be resilient despite the sell-off in other risk asset classes and the noticeable rebound in the value of the US dollar,” reads the note. The red metal was selling for US$6,710.50 Friday.

After hitting a year-to-date high of US$2,554 on September 1, the zinc price has been on the retreat. The steady run-up that the metal saw in July and August has now consolidated after resistance set in.

That said, the price pressure may be temporary as mine supply is still being impacted and seasonal slumps are starting to dissipate, which may set the stage for new price highs. Zinc was selling for US$2,383 at 11:28 a.m. EDT on Friday.

Nickel also marked its year-to-date high in early September, when its price hit US$15,660. Analysts at Fastmarkets note that the metal’s late-summer bump was likely the result of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk calling for more nickel mining.

“But that story may have run its course for the time being, especially with Tesla’s share price down heavily since the end of August,” reads the report.

The firm goes on to state that 70 percent of nickel is used in the stainless steel sector, compared to only about 5 percent for the battery market. That makes steel manufacturing the primary end use of the metal. Nickel was selling for US$14,748 on Friday.

Lead took a drastic dip this week — the metal opened at US$1,961.50 per tonne and had shed 5.2 percent by the end of week. Despite the dramatic slump, lead values are still holding at their pre-pandemic levels after falling to US$1,578 in May.

Friday saw the lead price sitting at US$1,859.

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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.