Gold and silver spot values are edging slightly downward in the early morning hours of Thursday despite there not being too much in the way of important economic data to talk about. While the 1st quarter GDP report for the US acted as an underlying bullish factor for metals on Wednesday, a shocking discovery in China may be doing the opposite for spot values today.
In other news, the civil war in Iraq continues to remain in the headlines as violence there only grows worse by the day. US military advisers are now in Baghdad, but they are more than likely not going to provide too much in the way of real help when it comes to fighting off ISIS. The Islamic militant group is simply too strong and too spread out for a few hundred military advisers to make that much of a difference. Then again, crazier things have happened in the past and the market will just have to continue watching and see how the next few days and weeks unfold. As it stands, ISIS is closing in on the capital city of Baghdad as they move further south into the country.
Light Day Of Economic Data Pushes Spot Values Downward
Today didn’t yield much in the way of economic data, but it did bring about the beginning of a two-day EU summit with regard to Ukraine and Russia. EU leaders are going to be discussing how they should go about handling the situation in Ukraine as the bankrupt nation is finding it more difficult to pay their debts. If something is not done soon, the dire situation in Ukraine will only grow worse as pro-Russian rebels continue to wreak havoc everywhere.
An interesting report from China is circulating with regard to a $15 billion illegal gold financing scheme that was broken up by authorities. This is an interesting bit of news for the gold and silver market because it may have a somewhat lasting effect on spot values. A similar copper financing scheme was broken up in China not too long ago, and it ended up pushing the spot value of copper downward. We will continue to pay close attention to the market in order to find out if they are going to be shying away from the yellow metal as a result of this report from China.
As we head into the final day of the week, things will likely remain quiet and the market’s attention will remain on Iraq, Ukraine, and the ongoing EU summit.