Gold and Silver Market Update (3/1/2015) – Golden Eagle
Last week was a more positive one for precious metals, with only rhodium losing value and all the other major commodities making at least some gains. Overall market conditions are still highly volatile and we’ve seen all the prices switch between up and down movements this year; no long-term trends are clear at the moment. The same volatility offers a lot of opportunities for short term profit, though.
Firstly, gold. After an initial dip when the markets opened Monday the spot price rose slowly, before picking up speed on Wednesday. It closed the week at $1,213.70, a gain of $11.10 on its previous close. This doesn’t make up for what it lost the week before but looks like signaling some support above $1,200. There’s no reason for gold to slip back below that level barring a sudden acceleration in the equities markets. Last week the Dow was very sluggish, closing just 35 points above where it started, and while the European markets performed better there’s still a lot of uncertainty over the future of Greece.
Silver also recovered slightly last week, following the same trajectory as gold through to Wednesday then rising more slowly the rest of the period. It finished at $16.63, 39 cents up on where it was the previous Friday. The fact it tracked gold so closely is an encouraging sign, indicating that normal market patterns might be re-establishing themselves. The price still isn’t strong but there’s no sign right now of a renewed lip down to last year’s lows.
Platinum started rising immediately the markets opened last Monday, and like gold it picked up momentum on Wednesday. The final price Friday afternoon was $1,189.50, a healthy $25 up on the week before. Again it doesn’t come close to making up the earlier losses but it’s definitely a positive move, especially as the metal ended the week still moving strongly upwards.
Among the major price drops of the previous week palladium stood out by declining much more slowly, and it rebounded well last week. From an opening price of $779 on Monday it rose steadily, hesitated briefly on Wednesday then regained steam through Friday. The final price was $818, an increase of $38 above its closing price the previous week. Industrial demand remains strong so the outlook for palladium remains good.
The only loser last week was rhodium. The price started to fall when the markets opened Monday, bottoming out at $1,110 and staying there for the rest of the week. That’s a loss of only $20 over the previous week but the most significant point was the lack of movement from Tuesday on. Rhodium looks like the weakest of all the precious metals right now and we expect that to continue in the short term, but if you have a long-term interest this is a good time to build up stocks.
So overall a much better week for metal investors than the one before. There are still no clear trends to indicate the way things are going to go but for now play the market for what it is.
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. 
