Gold and silver both lost some value in the early morning and overnight hours on Thursday though losses were not too major. There are some news stories out of Asia to report, especially after China took the day off to observe a public holiday yesterday. Investors continue to tread along acting as though easy money policies from around the world will be done away with any minute. With no major economic data to report on investors are looking for other ways of attempting to determine whether or not easy money will be a thing of the past.
Asia Back in the News
Last month may seem like over a year ago to many investors who have interest in Japan. Barely a month ago the Nikkei Index of the island nation was hitting record highs, but now it has lost over 20% of its value from that high point. Today alone the Nikkei Index lost 6%. This stock index is easily one of the most volatile in the world. With stocks declining at the rate which they are, it has given the Yen room to make significant gains against the US Dollar. It is really crazy how things can get flipped on their head in barely 4 weeks’ time.
After China took the day off yesterday, the Shanghai stock index hit a half-year low today. This is not surprising as both European and US stocks were trading lower on Thursday as well. Even the US Dollar Index opened up lower on Thursday.
Easy Money Worries
The underlying theme of the world marketplace is the collective investor fear that easy money will soon be nothing more than a memory. This fear is seen in the amount of investors who made it a point to reduce risk as much as possible this week. While declining stock markets are a point of concern for most investors, the large-scale abandonment of mid-level currencies from many parts of Asia should be too.
Next week may see some Quantitative Easing questions out of the US answered as the Federal Open Market Committee is set to meet on Wednesday. The discussion will center around current monetary policies and whether or not any changes should be made to them. It is uncertain what the verdict will be at the end of the meeting, but investors of all types will be hanging on every last word that is spoken both during and after that meeting.
Price Movement
Gold and silver have done quite a bit of moving this week, but by mid-morning on Thursday both metals were just about at the same point which they opened at on Monday.
Gold started the week at about $1,381 and by morning on Thursday was sitting at about one dollar less. Silver, on the other hand, started at about $21.65 and by morning time on Thursday was up about 10 cents.