For a second consecutive day this week, gold and silver started out having gained some decent value. Thanks to a sell-off of global equities that is now into its second day, precious metals are taking advantage of bargain-hunting and safe-haven demand in these tumultuous economic times. Though this week is set to bring about a good amount of economic data, very little of it will have any major impact on the global economic atmosphere.
In case you missed it, last week brought about a November jobs report that showed a shocking level of job growth last month. Compared to expectations of more than 230,000 jobs to have been added to the US economy, the actual figures showed that more than 320,000 new jobs were created in November. This figure gave equities a major boost, but one that was only short-lived as the big sell-off in equity markets has taken place over the last few days. It will be interesting to see, over the next few days, if equities will continue to fare poorly or if they will rebound.
Crude Oil Continues Its Downward Trend
A major theme in the marketplace over the last few weeks has been the subdued nature of crude oil prices. Though customers at the pump may be excited to see the price of crude oil (gasoline) continuously falling, the wider precious metals investing community has seen nothing but negative outcomes to recently downward moving crude oil prices.
Though oil trending downward has hurt all raw commodities, it is thought to be something that will spur economic growth and consumer spending as we head into the holiday season. Because people are spending so much less money at the pump, they are thought to have more money to spend on friends and family throughout the holiday season. With some luck, experts are hoping that increased spending due to slacking crude oil prices will offset some of the more disappointing Black Friday numbers.
Weak Chinese, Japanese Economic Data Drives Equity Sell-Off
There is plenty of economic data on the slate for this week, but it is widely expected that very little of it will have any actual impact on global markets. Just yesterday, however, the market was dealt some economic data from China and Japan, and both countries’ reports were sub-par at best.
In China, it was reported that November imports and exports fell far short of expectations for the month of November. This news was not all that surprising, but did well to fuel a stock sell-off that continued into today. So long as global equities continue to suffer, a combination of bargain-hunting and safe-haven demand will more than likely drive gold and silver prices forward.
With that said, however, the fact that crude oil continues to trend downward will continue to weigh on the spot values of both gold and silver. Unless global economic conditions change dramatically sometime soon, there will be a number of factors constantly working to bring spot values downward.
