Gold prices & silver prices forecast March 23

Let’s examine the mains news that might affect the changes in the current gold and silver prices as of March 23^rd:

Japan’s tsunami aftermath update

Japanese officials state that the number of dead has risen to over 9,000 and missing people are at over 14,000 so that the total is over 23,000 missing or dead.

There is no clear estimate on how much damage the country suffered however it will probably be over billions of dollars.

There is progress in recovering from the meltdown of the nuclear reactor in Fukushima; however it’s still far from over, as there are reports of high radiations levels in the vicinity of Fukushima.

Turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa

The allied forces continue their attack on Qaddafi’s army and progress to fifth day of fighting, as they currently attacking Qaddafi’s ground forces after their initial attack on the Libyan air force.

The protests in Bahrain and Yemen progress with reports of conflicts between the police and the protestors (For more on the recent news from Middle East see here).

Current Gold and Silver prices

European markets currently start off with rises in major precious metals prices:

The current gold prices, short term futures (April 2011 delivery) are traded at 1,428.8 USD / t oz. a 1.2 incline or a 0.08%, as of 9.33*.

The current silver prices, short term futures are at 36.345 USD / t oz – a 0.076 increase or a 0.21%, as of 9.33*.

(* GMT)

Gold and silver prices Outlook and Analysis:

In the graph below is the progress of silver and gold prices during March, as they show erratic behavior and an upward trend in recent days. And yet, gold prices fell by 0.25% while silver prices rose by 5.35%.

The uncertainty that rises from the turmoil in Japan will likely continue to draw traders towards gold and silver to hedge against the uncertainty in Japan’s financial markets and currency.

In order to finance this tsunami attack Bank of Japan increased its quantitative easing program by printing 15 trillion yen (183 billion USD). Since Japan will need to import a lot of commodities including oil and gas, this means that BOJ will have to sell many of its foreign exchange reserves mainly USD. This might further weaken the US dollar and thus raise gold and silver prices.

I speculate that gold prices will continue to increase throughout the day, and due to the financial markets’ uncertainty there will be many fluctuations, so expect to see high volatility in these metals prices as the week will progress.

The gold to silver ratio: as of yesterday, March 22^nd the ratio between gold and silver prices reached 39.36 – the lowest level this year; the ratio has been declining during March, as silver prices rose while gold prices fell up to date.

Here is a reminder of the top news and reports that are published today and tomorrow that might affect the markets (all times GMT):

Today:

15.30 – EIA report about Crude oil inventories

18.00 – Chairman of Fed – Ben Bernanke’s speech

Tomorrow:

15.30 – EIA report about Crude oil inventories

18.00 – Chairman of Fed – Ben Bernanke’s speech

[ratings]

For further reading (in this site):

Post navigation