Closing Gold & Silver Market Report – 5/16/2013
May 16, 2013GOLD BUGS SEE PRICE DROP AS BUYING OPPORTUNITY
Today, the market reacted to pessimistic U.S. economic data and its negative effect on both stocks and the dollar. Investors remain bullish for physical metals rather than ETFs as some sell-off occurred today in the market. “We’re seeing some of the pension funds selling via the ETFs, which is a bit of a worrying sign,” Standard Chartered analyst Daniel Smith said. “At this point physical demand remains pretty strong, but it's not enough to offset that wider showing by investors.” Consumers of Physical Gold usually perceive the market differently as described by Kelly Teoh, market strategist at trading firm IG Markets. “They don't have confidence in central banks, which are just pumping liquidity in the market [eroding the value of money]. There is no conviction in currencies. So it's a very different mindset,” Teoh said.
France, the eurozone’s second largest economy, continues to fall into a deeper recession as it battles a record unemployment rate and cynical business and consumer confidence. Many believe a reshuffle of the government’s structure could put the country on the track to a healthy recovery. “Will a new finance minister help? Possibly, but for France (or for that matter any European economy) to make major structural changes, we need the discipline of financial markets,” Amit Kara, a European economist at UBS, said.
At 5:15 p.m. (EDT), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:
- Gold, $1,387.50, Down $11.70.
- Silver, $22.75, Down $0.02.