Closing Gold & Silver Market Report – 5/2/2013
May 2, 2013INVESTORS, ANALYSTS REMAIN BULLISH ON GOLD
Precious Metals prices are on the rise with growing concern after the European Central Bank (ECB) cut its standard interest rate to a record low of 0.50 percent. When central banks lower interest rates, the market typically takes the opportunity to move into non-interest-bearing investments such as Gold. “When [ECB chief Mario] Draghi today comes along and says that the central bank is getting ready for negative interest rates, meaning it has all the ammunitions in place, what this suggested is that the opportunity cost to hold Gold will remain low,” VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said. The U.S. jobs report will be released tomorrow, which always sparks the market with either a positive or negative outlook with data reflecting how the economy is growing.
Jim Rickards of Tangent Capital shared his thoughts on Gold with CNBC today as he explained how the yellow metal would continue to perform sideways for the remainder of 2013 however, the metal’s more recent devaluation could increase the prices. “The problem is when central banks fear deflation more than anything, they try everything to defeat it, so, you know, currency wars, money printing, zero-interest-rate policy, forward guidance, twist. They do everything they can. When they can't win the battle against deflation, they devalue the currency against Gold because Gold's the only thing that can't fight back,” Rickards said. 
At 5:15 p.m. (EDT), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:
- Gold, $1,468.80, Up $20.10.
- Silver, $23.88, Up $0.45.