Bullion & Business Weekend Report - July 5
Gold charted mostly level this week, silver was slightly up, and platinum slid down by over 3 percent. The U.S. market was holiday-shortened with 4th of July celebrations Friday. London precious metals continued, with the following results:
Silver closed to $18.01 an ounce, a healthy gain of 61 cents compared to last Friday’s close.
London Platinum closed the week to 2,012, which was down $41 compared to its previous Friday close. Platinum suffered with weakening car demand news. Platinum is used in vehicle catalytic converters.
Gold closed Friday to $931 an ounce, gaining $11.25 from last Friday, but losing $2 for Monday through Friday.
The European Central Bank (ECB) raised rates this week, resulting in stronger investment interest for the US dollar.
"The ECB statement was not as hawkish as some had expected, thus they sold euro and bought dollars," said Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Bullion Dealers.
"At the end of the day, after a nice run, many [gold traders] were compelled to take profits," Nadler said in emailed comments. "That is what the game is generally all about."
Dollar strength typically hurts the price of gold.
The silver, gold and platinum weekly charts and comparisons from last week are below. The weekly business recap video from Reuters and three related precious metal articles are listed as well.
