The gold price history chart indicated that the yellow metal traded above the psychologically important $1,250 mark for most of last week. Monday opened with gold prices at $1256.34, and light trading in a narrow range resulted in a close of $1,255.08. Tuesday’s initial orders came in at $1,254.54 before a period of light selling pushed the closing bid to $1,250.06. The selling continued into aftermarket activity and saw the initial bid on Wednesday come in at $1,248.17. That bid marked the start of solid buying that took the price for the yellow metal up more than $12, closing at $1,261.59. Thursday’s opening purchase came in slightly higher at $1,263.32 before profit taking shaved off a few dollars, contributing to a closing price of $1,259.04. Gold prices opened up more than $6 on Friday, posting at $1,265.81. The final trade of the week was just under the high of 1,270.64, closing with a solid $1,269.34 quote, up $13 for the week.
With gold prices hitting six-week highs, buyers have overcome the profit takers that provided light volatility. Growing expectations that the Fed will not raise the interest rate for several months have contributed to the strength in the gold market. As governments are finding that the addiction they created to cheap money is limiting their options to raise interest rates, analysts and traders are looking much closer at the ultimate impact of a decade of artificially constrained markets and the potential consequences. 1 Risk-averse investors continue to view gold as an attractive asset during a time of mixed market signals.
No significant political or economic news or events are anticipated during the first week of trading in August, other than an announcement from the Reserve Bank of Australia concerning action on its trend-setting interest rate (currently 1.5 percent). The market will watch the movement on the U.S. dollar as it continues to show signs of weakness, and ongoing concerns mean ADP’s jobs data on private sector U.S. employment will get more attention than normal.
While some buyers of gold have taken a conservative position, futures are indicating that more investors are seeing a bullish trend and buying now before prices rise further. 2