Gold and silver started the second week of August in the same fashion which they ended the first one, by making solid gains. As soon as markets opened up, gold and silver shot out of the gate and immediately made gains that they would retain throughout the duration of the trading session. Thanks to some better than expected Chinese economic news and weaker news out of Japan, precious metals were given the push forward that we saw today. Only time will tell if precious metals will be able to sustain this solid run, though for the time being things are looking up.

This is already shaping up to be a slow week as far as economic news is concerned, mostly due to the fact that this time of year is a popular vacation time. As we move through August the trading atmosphere will likely remain subdued, though September may bring with it some fresh news regarding world economies.

China’s Upbeat Economic Future

Over the past few months, any news we heard regarding the Chinese economy was dismal, to say the least. Things got so bad, in fact, that many market watchers from around the world were calling for China to be downgraded from its status as the world’s second largest economy.

Last week brought with it some different news in the form of an overall better than expected economic report on imports and exports. The latest report indicated that both imports and exports had jumped up by percentages that were much better than what investing experts had anticipated. Nearly a week later the general public has now digested the news and it has been translated into a better stock market reading. For the first time in quite a while we have seen Chinese stocks make significant gains, and not only that, but also hold on to those gains.

This news was bullish for precious metals and most other raw commodities on Monday. It will be interesting to see if precious metals can retain Monday’s gains and even build on them as the next four days of the week plays out.

Japanese Stocks Down

While we have nothing but positive news to report out of China, the opposite is true for Japan. On Monday a bad string of economic news put their Nikkei Index into a bit of a slump, the likes of which we saw a few months ago.

The news is still mostly being digested by Japanese investors and for that reason we will keep our eyes on the island nation throughout the duration of the week. Investors of precious metals are jumping on physical gold and silver as fast as they can in anticipation of a continued upswing. Online and brick and mortar dealers of precious metals are likely going to see an influx of orders this week, though this too has yet to be seen.