he marketplace was quiet for yet another day on Thursday as the Christmas holiday means that most people will be out of their offices until early next week at the earlier. Gold and silver were able to make some minor gains but are still coming in second best to US stocks which continued their bullish run today.
The holiday season means trading volumes are thin which also means that precious metals are going to have a hard time making any sort of substantial gains in order to pull themselves out of their recent, respective ruts. Though gold is over the $1,200 threshold, it is at one of its lowest points in all of 2013.
Holiday Trading Not Helping Metals
Gold and silver are not receiving any favors from this holiday season as a quieter marketplace is making it difficult for precious metals to move much at all. Not only that, but investors are exhibiting more of a risk-appetite that can only be satisfied by increased investments in US stocks. The bullish run that the Dow and S&P 500 have been on is impressive and highlights perfectly the new risk-on attitude the marketplace is exhibiting.
Gold and silver are safe-haven assets and because investors are on the offensive much more than they are on the defensive nowadays the need for precious metals is not as prevalent as it was only a few months ago. If QE is going to be continuously wound down throughout the year like so many people think it is, the outlook on precious metals is only going to get bleaker. Nonetheless, we will have to wait and see how 2014 pans out for gold and silver.
In other news from around the world, China’s economy was reported as having grown by over 7% in 2013. Market expectations were for the economy to grow by about 6% on an annual basis but the 7.6% growth beat expectations handily. Despite a good report of economic growth in China, Chinese stocks suffered on news of short-term interest rates continuing to rise. We will be keeping a close eye on China because short-term interest rates have been on the move upward for more than the past week, a cause for concern for more than just investors in China.