19/04/2024: This Week in Gold with Market Updates:
Price Action:
Gold Price:
Gold opened the week trading at $2,344 an ounce after closing the previous week 0.6% higher. Gold is currently on track to finish higher for the 5th consecutive trading week.
On Monday, price experienced a steady gain throughout the day. The majority of movement in price is potentially related to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with investors flocking to gold as a safe-haven asset. Gold closed the day 1.7% higher at $2,384 an ounce.
On Tuesday, price consolidated throughout the day, ultimately closing $1 lower at $2,383 an ounce. Safe haven demand was weakened by an increased expectation from investors that there will be fewer interest rate cuts this year. This came after FED Chair, Jerome Powell, indicated that higher inflation is likely to delay early cuts.
On Wednesday, gold exhibited a choppy trend during the early hours of trading before moving lower from mid-afternoon onwards. Price fell to $2,361, a 0.9% fall. At the time of writing, this was gold’s only losing day this week.
On Thursday, price embarked on a steady trend higher before experiencing a late reversal. Markets were fuelled by ongoing escalation in the Middle East war. Gold closed the day 0.75% higher at $2,379 an ounce.
On Friday, price opened at $2,379 an ounce and surged $31 in the first 2 hours of the trading day. This was in response to Israel’s attack on Iran late Thursday evening. War escalation boosts safe-haven buying from investors. At the time of writing, price is trading at $2,394 an ounce. This equates to a live weekly gain of 2%.
Silver Price:
Silver opened the week trading at $27.87 an ounce. At the time of writing, silver is on track to close higher for the fourth consecutive week.
Price rose sharply on Monday, climbing just under $1 to $28.88, a 3.43% daily gain.
On Tuesday, price fell, losing most of the gains it experienced on Monday. Price closed the day at $28.10 an ounce.
The remainder of the week saw price consolidate and stay within a 1.5% range. At the time of writing, price is trading at $28.50 an ounce. This equates to a live weekly gain of 2.1%.
Market Updates:
Monday, 15th April: U.S. Retail Sales:
U.S. Retail Sales were released on Tuesday. Sales were seen to rise 0.7%, which beat analyst expectations of 0.4%. This was lower than the previous month’s figure but showed resilience in consumer spending. Similarly to gold, lowering interest rates will help to boost spending in the economy and will contribute to higher sales. However, the FED has made it clear that multiple rate cuts this year may not be a possibility.
Tuesday, 16th April: FED Chair Powell Speaks:
FED Chair, Jerome Powell, revealed on Tuesday that the FED may have to delay multiple rate cuts this year due to persistently high inflation figures. Powell stated that if inflation remains high, then rates may have to stay higher for longer. Investors were expecting the first rate cut to occur in June but are now looking past this date after the FED Chairs’ latest comments.
Wednesday, 17th April: Eurozone CPI:
Eurozone CPI came in as expected at 2.4%. This was down from the previous month’s figure of 2.6%, which is an indication that inflation is cooling in Europe.
