Gold & Silver Market 5-31-2015
Last week wasn’t a great one for precious metals, with all five of the main prices heading down. Gold and silver rallied midweek but in the platinum group that didn’t happen. This across the board downturn tied in with a drop in US share prices and revised quarter one growth figures that showed the American economy contracting by 0.7 percent in the first three months of the year. Over time we expect that to actually help metal prices, but last week has to go down as a disappointing one.
Gold slipped again early in the week, with losses of over $20 on Monday. By Tuesday the spot price had stabilized, though, and through the rest of the period it slowly started to climb back up. The final price on Friday was $1,190, $15.90 lower than the Friday before. However it ended the week heading in the right direction. If it holds up in the early part of this week there’s an excellent chance it will get back above $1,200 by Friday.
Moving on to silver, it followed a very similar pattern to gold. The spot price actually climbed slightly on Monday but on Tuesday it dropped sharply before settling and starting to rise again. The closing price was $16.70, down 37.5 cents on the previous close, but like gold it ended the period rising and hopefully that will continue this week. Despite pessimism from some analysts the conditions are there for silver to rise in the near future.
The platinum group was the week’s real disappointment, with platinum itself setting the tone; as soon as the markets opened Monday the spot price dropped sharply, and while the rate of decline slowed on Tuesday it continued down for the rest of the period. The final price on Friday was $1,109, a $37 loss and new three-month low.
Palladium also fell on Monday, but unlike platinum it rallied Tuesday and climbed as high as $786 over the next few days. Then on Friday it turned down again and fell back below where it had been Tuesday. Friday’s closing price was $775, $4 down on the previous Friday. Palladium definitely seems to be on a downward trend at the moment after looking like the strongest of the metals for several months, but industrial demand is still healthy and we can’t see it falling below $750.
Lastly there’s rhodium. This has been extremely sluggish for a while, with little activity beyond occasional drops. Friday saw another one, with the price abruptly falling $10 to close at $1,035. We don’t expect a recovery in the near future; the supply of rhodium is healthy, and while demand is also strong there’s no real scarcity.
So not a good week for metals overall, but on the positive side both gold and silver ended the period heading back up, and with the US stock market looking shaky there’s no reason for them to fall again this week. The platinum group is a different story, with rhodium in particular seeming weak, and we wouldn’t recommend buying in to that sector at the moment.
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. 
