Will Gold Price Weakness Persist This Week?

GOLD PRICE NEWS – The gold price added to its recent stretch of losses amid weakness in the commodities complex and broader financial markets on Monday.  The spot price of gold fell by $9.88, or 0.6%, to $1,647.33 per ounce in this morning despite rising to as high as $1,662.94 in overnight trading.  The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), the world’s largest gold price proxy, dropped $1.04, or 0.7%, to $159.40 per share.

Silver headed south alongside the price of gold, by $0.22, or 0.7%, to $30.02 per ounce.  Among other precious metals, platinum futures dipped 0.2% to $1,556.10 per ounce while palladium tumbled 1.6% to $677.20 per ounce.  As for cyclical commodities, copper futures slipped 0.6% to $3.67 per pound while crude oil inched lower by 0.1% to $92.97 per barrel.

The sell-off in gold prices spread to gold stocks, as the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) retreated by $0.57, or 1.3%, to $44.76 per share.  The gold sector fared worse than the broader equity markets, as the S&P 500 Index dipped by just 0.4% to 1,460.85.  Among widely-traded gold stocks, shares of Barrick Gold (ABX) and Newmont Mining (NEM) dropped by 1.2% to $34.19 and by 1.6% to $45.22 per share, respectively.

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With today’s slide in the price of gold, the yellow metal remains near its lowest level since mid-August.  Furthermore, it has declined for six consecutive weeks for the first time since April-May of 2004.  Gold prices were pressured by last week’s Federal Reserve minutes, which revealed that several central bankers might prefer to end their quantitative easing program at some point in 2013.

Despite last week’s sell-off, several market strategists noted that the individuals with the most influence at the Fed – namely Chairman Ben Bernanke, Vice Chair Janet Yellen, and New York Fed President William Dudley – all remain firmly in the dovish camp and are unlikely to allow the Fed to alter its monetary policy stance at anytime in the near future.

Furthermore, two of the world’s most respected investors – PIMCO’s Bill Gross and DoubleLine Capital’s Jeffrey Gundlach – have argued recently that they do not see a Fed “exit strategy” on the horizon for a very long time.

Looking ahead to this week, the U.S. economic calendar is particularly light in terms of catalysts for the price of gold and the broader markets.  The only data point that has historically had much of an impact on gold prices is the weekly jobless claims report, which is due out on Thursday morning.

However, the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BOE) will hold their respective monthly monetary policy meetings on Thursday.  As such, investors will have an opportunity to turn their attention across the Atlantic to see how these central banks are viewing the current state of affairs in a global economy that remains full of uncertainty.

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