06/10/2023: This Week in Gold with Market Updates:
Introduction:
Gold:
Gold opened the week trading at $1,845 and experienced a turbulent Monday which was marked by an aggressive sell-off. The yellow metal faced relentless downward pressure, with price making lower highs and lower lows. Price ultimately finished the day 1.1% lower at $1,825 which was the largest daily decline for the week.
Tuesday saw the continuation of the bearish sentiment, with gold opening at $1,825 and closing $2 lower at $1,823. Price consolidated within a narrow range for most of the day, and ultimately closed lower after a very gradual decline throughout the day. The price of gold continued to be weighed down by a firm dollar and elevated bond yields. Tuesday also saw the release of U.S. jobs data, where it was seen that job openings surged in August. This raises the possibility of another FED interest rate hike which held gold lower.
Buyers and sellers were at a stalemate on Wednesday, with gold closing neither higher or lower for the day. Gold opened the day at $1,823, and moved within a 0.5% range for the day, before closing at $1,823.
Thursday’s open of $1,826 provided a glimmer of hope for gold as it showed a slight recovery from the previous session’s stagnation. However, the market struggled to maintain momentum and eventually closed lower. This was due to robust U.S. labour market data which raised investor concerns with regards to future rate hikes. The price of gold fell 0.3% to close the day at $1,821.
Gold opened Friday at $1,821 and consolidated during the morning trading hours. Price then fell further to hit a weekly low of $1,815 before experiencing a quick bounce off the bottom. At the time of writing, gold is steadily climbing and price is currently at $1,831.
Silver:
Silver opened the week trading $21.99 and kicked off the week with a bearish descent. Silver experienced a dramatic fall on Monday, losing 5.2% to close the day at $20.90. This was the largest sell-off for the week, which contrasted a steady dollar and elevated Treasury yields.
Tuesday saw silver hit a weekly low of $20.74 before experiencing a brief climb and consolidating for the remainder of the day. Silver closed the day at $21.21, which was $0.30 higher than what it opened at.
Silver opened Wednesday trading at $21.19. The market showed determination to regain lost ground but faced resistance due to strong U.S. job openings data that was released the day prior. The metal ultimately closed the day at $21.06.
Thursday witnessed a potential recovery at the open, with silver opening the day at $21.10. Despite brief attempts throughout the day to break the bearish trend silver was experiencing, the metal consolidated within a narrow range and closed 0.5% lower at $20.99.
Silver consolidated throughout the morning of Friday, before experiencing a move to the upside. At the time of writing, silver is trading at $21.54.
Market Updates:
U.S. Job Openings:
U.S. Job openings increased in August, which was against expectations. This signifies a strong labour market which could lead to further rate hikes by the FED. The FED’s monetary policy regarding interest rate hikes is a method that is carried out to cool the economy. With a rise in job openings, it is clear that the labour market is strengthening and not cooling.
The data released raises prospects of a potential rate hike at the FED’s next meeting, adding to the ‘higher for longer’ narrative that investors currently have. The data also lowers the expectation of a downturn in the U.S. economy, which suppresses precious metals.
U.S. Jobs Data:
On Friday, the U.S. Labour Department released their report on non-farm payrolls. The report showed that non-farm payrolls increased by 336,000 jobs in September. This beat expectations of 170,000. With the data showing a strong increase, the odds for a FED rate hike in October increased.
