Gold & Silver Market 8-3-2015
Last week turned out to be another mixed one for precious metals, with gold and silver stabilizing but losses in the platinum group. In general it wasn’t a good week, but there are some things to be optimistic about.
Gold didn’t manage to rebound, but its descent did slow dramatically. It actually managed to gain a few dollars in the early part of the week before slipping back on Thursday, but a final rally on Friday kept its overall losses down to just $4.30. As a percentage that doesn’t even register, so it’s reasonable to say the price was fairly stable. The big question is whether gold is ready to recover. If equities slow down it could well be.
The news was better for silver, for a change – although there still wasn’t much in it. The spot price fluctuated throughout the week before spiking on Friday. Most of the gains bled off again before trading closed but silver still finished five cents up at $14.79. Again that’s such a small change that the price essentially hasn’t moved, but it’s a lot better than it could have been. The problem with silver is that, despite solid demand and fairly constant production, confidence remains low. Until investors regain their faith in the metal it’s likely to stay down.
Moving on to the platinum group the picture is a lot less rosy. Platinum itself stayed in a narrow range for most of the week before tipping into a slow decline on Thursday. The final price was $982, $5 down on the previous week. Once more that isn’t particularly significant, but it’s not very profitable either – and without seeing some return, investors are going to start to sell.
Palladium followed a very similar track to platinum, with little movement most of the week until the price started to slip early Friday. The final trades registered at $609, a loss of $15 over the previous period. That’s a much more significant fall, equaling around 2.5 percent, and a signal that the price is likely to slip further. Palladium seems to be stuck in a rut, very different from the lucky streak it seemed to be on much of last year.
And last of all there’s rhodium. This has been the weakest of the platinum group for a while, excepting the occasional surge, and it was certainly the worst hit last week. The price stayed almost static through Wednesday, when it suddenly tipped into a steep down trend. By the close of trading on Friday it had fallen to just $775, $76 down on the previous week. It looks like rhodium still has some way to go before it hits a hard floor.
So overall not the best of weeks, but there is some room for hope with gold and silver; they’re both looking sluggish but last week’s heavy losses weren’t repeated, so if the equities market cooperates they could stabilize or even climb. The next big event will be the Q3 export figures, and we can expect an interesting time in early October.
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. 
