Gold & Silver Market 4-20-2015
Last week was, again, a mixed one in the precious metals market but overall perhaps slightly better than the one before. Gold and platinum slid fractionally but not enough to worry about just yet, silver took a bigger dip and rhodium was the week’s main loser, but palladium finished comfortably ahead and by the close of trading on Friday most of the main metals were heading in the right direction. Volatility and sudden changes of direction are still key features of the market but it looks like things could be picking up slightly as the Dow Jones and other share indexes remain indecisive. The key exchange rate – dollar to Euro – isn’t moving significantly at the moment, and isn’t likely to unless a solution is found for the apparently endless Greek crisis, and while oil rose last week that was the first time it’s really moved in a while, so for now the biggest games in town are stocks and metals.
Gold had a bad start to the week with a fall that began over the weekend continuing into Monday. It picked up again on Tuesday though, blipped down on Wednesday then rose for the rest of the period to close at $1,205.60. That was $1.70 below where it stood the Friday before, but it’s not a significant drop. If it accelerates down this week there will be reason to worry, but not at the moment. It also finished the week heading up, and there’s no reason for that not to continue this week.
The situation with silver is clearer but also, unfortunately, more negative – it also fell Monday then bounced along just above a hard floor at $16 for most of the week. A revival on Friday saw it climb back to $16.26, a fall of 22 cents. That’s disappointing, but still not the sort of week on week losses we saw last year. Again it ended the week climbing; confidence in silver still looks weak, but demand from industry is still good and that should encourage investors.
A surprising amount of the movement in platinum seems to have been happening over the weekends recently and last week saw more of the same. Monday opened with the spot price well below anything it had hit the previous week at just over $1,150, but it flattened out on Monday then managed to climb the rest of the week. Friday saw it close at $1,169, just $3.50 below the week before. Like gold, that’s not enough of a loss to get worried about just now and the strength of its recovery from a bad opening as actually quite a hopeful sign.
Palladium was the real winner last week, despite also falling over the weekend and continuing that slide on Monday. Tuesday saw it bounce back strongly and although its rise flattened out slightly on Friday it never quite ran out of steam; the closing price was $783, a $5 gain over the week before.
And that brings us to palladium. This metal has been sluggish all year but finally stirred itself and dropped as soon as the markets opened Monday, losing $10 by Wednesday morning. It stuck at that level for two days before shedding another $9 on Friday, ending the week at $1,076.
Definitely mixed, then, but four of the five ended the week climbing. The best analysis coming out of the market right now is that for the next few weeks performance depends on the Dow. If that slides metals are well placed to rise strongly, so be prepared to get in while they’re still cheap.
About the Author: Clint Stelfox
Clint is the director of marketing at Golden Eagle Coins. Son of Richard Stelfox, co-founder of the company, Clint has been living and breathing coins his entire life. After trading for a Philadelphia Stock Exchange firm for several years Clint returned to give Golden Eagle the online presence it has today. 
