Precious metals prices changed directions several times during the week only the end it not much different from the end of last week’s prices. There were many reports and events that affected not only the bullion market, but also other commodities markets such as oil. Gold and silver had started the week strong but then changed direction and declined. The U.S manufacturing PMI edged up but continued to show contraction in the manufacturing sector. This news may have adversely affect commodities rates. On Wednesday the FOMC announced it won’t change its monetary policy. The bullion rates declined the following day. I have referred I in a recent article on the relation between the monetary policy of the Fed and gold and silver prices. On Friday the non-farm payroll report came out – employment grew by 163k – higher than expected. This news rallied the forex and commodities markets.
During the week the Euro/USD rose by 0.7%; this rise may have contributed to the recovery of major commodities rates including gold, silver and oil.
By the end of the week, gold declined by 0.83% while silver rose by 1.1%.
Here is a short recap of the changes in Bullion between July 30th and August 3rd:
Precious Metals Recap:
Gold price declined during last week by 0.83%; on the other hand, during said time the average rate reached $1,609.18 /t. oz which is 0.41% above the previous week’s average rate of $1,602.68 /t. oz. Gold finished at $1,622.7 /t. oz.
Silver, unlike gold, rose on a weekly scale by 1.1%; further, the average rate rose by1.1% to reach $27.66/t oz compared to the the previous week’s average $27.25/t oz.
During last week, the average daily percent change of gold reached -0.16%; silver edged up by an average 0.24%.
As seen below, the chart shows the changes of precious metals, as their rates normalized to 100 to July 27th. Bullion prices declined during the first most of the week but then changed direction and rallied on the last day of the week.
The second chart presents the daily percent changes of precious metals (or in other words the changes around the trend). Bullion prices rose on Monday and Friday and declined during the rest of the week. During last week precious metals daily percent changes ranged between nearly 3% gain and 2% loss.
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