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August 7th Silver Market Update

Precious metals are feeling some pressure today, but are still having a somewhat decent week. Compared to last week, this 5-day trading session has been a good bit quieter. There simply hasn’t been much economic data on the slate, and that fact alone has made for a trading atmosphere that is typical of a mid-summer week.

Though there was not as much economic data on the slate this week as there was a week ago, some EU data was made public a few days ago and gave investors something to mull over and discuss. In addition to this, there were also a few developments stemming from the situation in Ukraine, this time involving Russia. As we head into this weekend, it seems as though investors will remain focused on the developments stemming from the crisis in Ukraine.

Russia Imposes Sanctions of Its Own

Over the course of the last few months, both the United States and members of the European Union have been imposing sanctions upon Russia for its involvement in the annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine. The sanctions being imposed are aimed at Russia’s economy in an attempt to cripple it going forward. Proving that two can play the sanction game, Russia announced yesterday that it would be barring the shipment of a large number of food products from the United States and EU countries. Though this may not seem like too big of a deal, Russia annually imports more than $1 billion worth of food from Western and EU nations. When it comes down to it, however, many market analysts think that Russia’s new sanctions will have more of an adverse effect on the Russian economy than anything else. That said, I suppose only time will tell what kind of impact, if any, Russia’s new sanctions will have on the EU and US economies.

The only other major talking point of the week came in the form of Russia building up a military presence along its border with Ukraine. Though Russia has not made any moves crossing into the country of Ukraine, some feel as though an attack may be right around the corner. As a result of this, safe-haven demand for precious metals has been seen growing stronger over the course of the last few days. Though it is unlikely that safe-haven demand will be around forever, it is encouraging to see at least one market factor working in the favor of gold and silver.