Gold got back on the bull last week! Gold prices surged more than $8 over the previous week’s close to open at $1,324.70 on Monday morning. Markets cooled to close at a more moderate $1,322.75, still up over $6. Tuesday opened with the price of gold up at $1,328.34, and prices rose further to end the day at $1,329.31. Prices for the yellow metal bumped up all the way to $1,336.13 in afterhours trading, and Wednesday’s open came in at $1,331.77. Then trading took off, sending gold prices to $1,348.22 by 10:00 AM in New York and closing out the day at $1,352.31 for a rally of 1.5 percent, reported the gold price history chart. Thursday’s open slipped to a still robust $1,350.94, traded in a tight range for the day, and closed up slightly at $1,353.59. Gold rallied again to a high for the week of $1,360.24 in afterhours trading and opened up on Thursday’s close at $1,355.92 on Friday morning. The market then cooled throughout the day, settling at $1,346.96 for the week, which still represented a gain of 1.7 percent.
The week began with more news of looming federal budget deficits, as President Trump’s administration unveiled its budget proposal, which called for dramatic cuts to domestic programs such as Medicare and a major increase in military spending. 1 While most pundits believe that Congress will ignore much of the proposal, markets seem to have woken up to the possibility that national debt is reaching unmanageable levels. 2 The dollar dipped as traders considered a future for the greenback with both massive current account deficits, in which we import more than we export, and unprecedented budget deficits, in which we spend more than we make. 3
Market jitters were not calmed by other news, as word broke that U.S. forces in Syria clashed with Russian mercenaries in one of the deadliest battles between the two superpowers since the end of the Cold War. U.S. government reports put the death toll at approximately 100 when the Russians attacked a base held by U.S. and Kurdish forces. The Russian government claimed no Russian military forces were involved, and while the U.S. accepted this explanation, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called the situation ‘perplexing.’ More international chaos helped drive an already bullish market for gold higher.