Commodity Blog

Gold futures snapped their impressive winning streak at the end of the trading week. The yellow metal, which has had been trading at an all-time high, slumped on a rallying US dollar and investors taking profits. Is this the end of gold’s rally? Or is this just a minor dip that presents an incredible buying opportunity?

December gold futures tumbled $32.90, or 1.59%, to $2,036.70 per ounce at 16:56 GMT on Friday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold is still on track for a weekly gain of at least 2.2%, bringing its year-to-date surge to more than 34%.

Silver, the sister commodity to gold, is also sliding to finish the trading week. September silver futures fell $0.445, or 1.57%, to $27.955 an ounce. The white metal had an even better week, advancing 13.5%. So far this year, silver prices have spiked 56%.

The main factor for the decline in gold and silver prices has been a strengthening US dollar. Despite plunging more than 6% over the last three months, the greenback experienced a rare double-digit rally. The US Dollar Index, which measures the buck against a basket of currencies, skyrocketed 0.76% to 93.49, from an opening of 92.81. A stronger greenback is bad for commodities priced in dollars because it makes it more expensive for foreign investors to purchase. The index is poised for a tepid weekly gain of 0.2%.

However, analysts are warning that Congress agreeing on another multi-trillion-dollar stimulus package would be bearish for the dollar, adding to inflation concerns. Plus, a new agreement would create confidence in the broader financial market, triggering an exit from the greenback and into riskier investments.

Investors are also likely taking profits to close out the week after the precious metals’ meteoric ascent from recent sessions. Recent data suggested that there was an enormous push into gold and silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this week, and Wall Street has invested about $3 billion in mining companies. Does this spell the end of the asset class’ rally? Or is this a brief correction that will lead to bigger gains this month?

Metal commodities further slipped on a strong US jobs report. In July, the economy created 1.76 million new jobs, beating the market forecast of 1.6 million. The unemployment rate declined to 10.2%, lower than the median estimate of 10.5%. But the leading stock indexes hardly reacted to the positive employment news.

In other metal markets, September copper futures dropped $0.1235, or 4.24%, to $2.787 per pound. September platinum futures shed $42.80, or 4.22%, to $971.10 an ounce. September palladium futures plummeted $90.40, or 4.00%, to $2,169 per ounce.

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