Weekly Round-Up: Gold Price Poised for Second Straight Week of Gains

On Friday, the spot gold price was up 0.1 percent, at $1,202.47 an ounce, according to Reuters. The yellow metal is up 1.8 percent for the week, and is poised to post its second straight week of gains. 

The rise resulted from continued investor concern regarding the Greek debt crisis and from the US Federal Reserve’s dovish approach to interest rates. Specifically, the Fed said it won’t raise interest rates until there’s further improvement in the labor market.

For its part, the silver price slipped 0.1 percent, to $16.14 per ounce, reflecting the dollar’s continued strength against a basket of foreign currencies, as per Reuters. As the dollar becomes more valuable, dollar-demarcated commodities are more expensive for investors who hold other currencies. While the unstable debt situation in Greece would traditionally drive up the value of safe-haven investments, the dollar’s strength is curtailing growth.

“The rate move, a stronger dollar and the re-pricing of the U.S. yield curve will limit any upside,” Jens Pedersen, a senior analyst at Danske Bank (CPH:DANSKE), told the news outlet.

Meanwhile, the copper price slid on lackluster Chinese demand. The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, and many investors anticipated a seasonal increase in demand for the metal. When that did not materialize, the metal fell 1.4 percent on the LME, to $5,675 a tonne, Reuters states in another article.

Similarly, COMEX copper fell 1.46 percent to reach $2.57 per pound, MarketWatch reported.

Finally, the Brent crude price fell $1, to $63.26 per barrel, as investors responded to fears that a Greek default will impact surrounding economies and diminish oil demand, according to Reuters. While oil demand is currently up, global supply and production remain quite high.

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