GoldPrice

Good morning, traders. Welcome to our preview of the first full week of trading in 2020. As always, we’ll be talking a look at the macroeconomic data items on this week’s calendar that have the most relevance for traders of gold and other precious metals, as well as the US Dollar and its major trade partners.

Gold prices are trading near four-month highs, having gained well over $30 to the ounce this week. The yellow metal’s rise was spurred initially by an overall increase in demand throughout the commodities complex, and then slung higher by the sudden return of geopolitical tension to the economic narrative.

Good morning, traders; welcome to our final weekly preview of the year. As with last week, the macroeconomic calendar, the schedule is a bit uneven, and trading volume will be thin because of a federal/bank holiday in the middle of the week. Unlike last week, we do have a couple meaningful points on the docket, and both of them fall on Friday.

Happy holiday Friday, traders. Welcome to our appropriately brief recap of the week in the precious metals market. Gold prices are at a 7-week high in today’s very light trading, while silver looks poised for a possible move back above $18/oz; all in spite of a general risk-on mood in global markets that has seen the major US equity markets continue to reach new (if still uninspiring) highs.

Happy holidays, traders! Welcome to the start of our two shortened trading weeks to end 2019 and roll into 2020. News flow and data releases will be minimized this week (and next) with the bank holidays falling mid-week. During the start of US trading sessions between now and January 6, it’s helpful to remember that the majority of London-based traders are offline and so market liquidity will be particularly low during those hours.

Happy Friday, traders; welcome to our regular Friday recap of the week’s macroeconomic data and headlines that mattered most to the precious metals and Dollar markets. And the final full trading week of 2019, at that!

Consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of US economic activity, showed robust growth in November as expected with 0.4% growth according to the Commerce Department. The increase was accompanied by a rise in personal income of 0.5%, allowing for increased spending approaching the holiday shopping season.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve manufacturing index dropped 10 points in December, failing to meet expectations and falling to a six-month low. Now at 0.3, the index is just barely showing growth in the sector, with any reading below 0 indicating contraction.

Initial jobless claims in the US fell 18,000 to 234,000 for the week ended December 14, according to the Labor Department’s report on Thursday. Claims had shot up to a two-year high the previous week, with the data possibly skewed by Thanksgiving coming earlier in the year than usual. Claims are still higher than predicted.

US manufacturing output rose above expectations in November following the end of a six-week strike at General Motors, leading to increased production in the auto industry. Manufacturing and industrial output both rose following more modest activity in October.

US homebuilding rose above expectations for November at 3.2% growth or 1.365 additional units. Permits for construction, an indicator of future building, hit above a 12-year high with 1.4% growth. The housing market may be showing signs of an upward trend with rate cuts finally increasing affordability, although builders still report land and labor shortages impacting their business.

Good morning, traders. Welcome to our weekly preview of the macroeconomic data and headlines that will matter most for gold markets this week—the last full week of trading for 2019.