Gold and silver are hovering near even on what is already shaping up to be a quiet day of trading. After making solid gains on both Friday of last week as well as yesterday many are beginning to believe that precious metals are gaining momentum. Whether or not this is actually true will be determined in the coming days and weeks but the beginning of 2014 has been good to gold and silver thus far. Last week’s weaker than anticipated US jobs report only worked to put a dent in he overall confidence people have in the US economy.
While trading in Asia and Europe has thus far been quiet, things will likely pick up later in the day in the US thanks to a number of companies publishing their earnings reports from the 4th quarter of last year.
Earnings Reports Take Center Stage
Prior to last Friday the overall investor confidence in the US economy was high and on the rise. US stocks were flourishing while the US Dollar was realizing highs that it had not seen in multiple years. For most, the frenzy of positive economic data out of the United States meant that the world’s largest economy might finally be breaking free from the restraint of the 2008 worldwide recession. Then, unfortunately, last Friday rolled around. Compared to market expectations of a 200,000 increase in non-farm payrolls for this past December, the actual data showed that non-farm payrolls only grew by 74,000. This far weaker than expected number sent a shock wave around the investing world and caused investors to worry that maybe the Fed may have acted too soon with regard to tapering QE.
In the immediate aftermath of the less than stellar report gold and silver received noticeable gains. Those gains continued into yesterday as many investors continued to worry about the state of the US economy. Now, gold and silver are sitting stagnant, likely waiting to be altered by today’s plethora of earnings reports.
Apart from today’s earnings reports there really isn’t much else on the table to talk about. US lawmakers are still at the negotiating table with regard to the budget and debt ceilings and if finalized deals cannot be reached in the coming days it is likely that you will see the investing world pay a bit more attention to what is going on. At present, the eyes of the world are on the United States as it is one of the only regions home to a flurry of economic activity.
