Gold and silver have made solid gains in the early parts of Monday mostly thanks to a significantly lower USD Index. While no major news stories were released over the weekend, the marketplace took the time to digest what Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke had to say last Wednesday and Thursday. In the end Bernanke’s remarks were positive for the spot value of precious metals, though these numbers may be a bit skewed due to the lower USD Index.
There are not very many news market-relevant news stories set to be released this week, meaning precious metals will be battling with currencies and other commodities in order to make gains.
Bernanke’s Remarks Last Week
Over the span of two days Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was set to address both the US House and Senate, his topics of discussion were to include both the economy and the future of monetary policy. When he stepped in front of the House on Wednesday he stated that thew Fed plans on keeping monetary policies as accommodating as possible for as long as is necessary. He also stated that monetary policy, specifically Quantitative Easing, is by no means on a preset course to being done away with. In fact, Bernanke’s statements were quite to the contrary as he went as far as to say that Quantitative Easing could even be boosted if the US economy were to take a turn for the worse anytime soon.
While Bernanke’s remarks on Thursday more or less mirrored the ones he made on Wednesday, the marketplace did not fully digest what he had to say until over the weekend. As most would have expected, the marketplace took favorably to Bernanke’s remarks as precious metals spot values jumped upward as soon as markets opened on Monday.
Outside Markets Help Metals
As many investors know, whenever the USD Index takes a dive the spot values of gold and silver tend to increase. This happened to be the case on Monday as the USD Index hit a 4 week low, giving precious metals more than enough room to make substantial gains. If the USD Index does stay subdued for a large majority of the week, these next few days could end up being very profitable for both gold and silver.
Spot values for precious metals are still relatively low, so many investors are clambering to get their hands on as much gold and silver as they can in anticipation of an extended upswing. Buying gold and silver online and at brick and mortar stores will likely be prevalent this week though only time will tell.
