Gold and silver spot values are both hovering around even on Tuesday, but are feeling a bit of a pullback after gains made on both Friday of last week as well as this Monday. As opposed to last week, there are not many pieces of US economic data to talk about this week. Instead, investors are going to be dealt a decent amount of European data, most of which was released earlier this morning.
Tensions in Ukraine are still as high as ever, but have stayed out of the headlines overnight. With that in mind, however, it is important to note that violence in the large eastern European nation is just beginning to intensify again. Over the weekend, the Ukrainian military was seen moving throughout the country’s east and south in an effort to oust pro-Russian rebels who have taken over towns and cities across the country. Now, as many fear that the crisis in Ukraine will grow worse before it gets any better, the violence will likely only increase over the next few days. For this reason and more the investing world will continue to keep a close eye on any and all happenings out of eastern Europe.
EU Data Makes Headlines On Tuesday
Last week saw the whole of the investing world focus on the plethora of US economic data that was released. This week will see those same investors focus on Europe as a number of economic reports are beginning to surface. The biggest report of the day was with regard to April’s PMI reading from the EU, which was nearly a whole percentage point better than March’s reading. Despite March having a PMI reading that was just barely over 53, April’s reading came in at a clean 54.0. Any reading above 50 suggests that the economy in question is growing, which we have seen from Europe for a majority of the year so far. Even Spain and Italy PMI readings improved in April from March, proving that even the weakest European economies are showing signs of improvement throughout the first parts of 2014.
Another report showed that retail sales in the EU rose over the course of March to April. Though this is good news, investors are taking it with a grain of salt after it was reported on Monday that prices are continuing to fall throughout the region. Falling prices are only working to intensify spreading deflationary worries. The European Central Bank is meeting this Thursday and man investors are expecting to hear about some sort of monetary stimulus measures.
As we head into the remainder of the week it will be interesting to see if the weaker US Dollar will help give precious metals a boost or if profit-taking after recent gains will continue to drive the spot values of gold and silver downward. What’s more, the crisis in Ukraine will remain at the center of the marketplace’s attention for the foreseeable future.
