All is calm before Christmas

For gold investors, the past week was perfect to either get the last of their Christmas shopping done or head off on vacation. The price of gold remained almost unchanged, but at least did not fall any further, even though the euro against the US dollar, at 1.0352, hit its lowest level since January 2003. On the other hand, the US dollar index DXY climbed to its highest level in 13 years, which goes to show that the greenback was also able to rise in value against a number of other currencies, including the gold producing nations’ currencies such as the Canadian and Australian dollar. The US dollar also rose slightly against the yuan.

The gold market was much less eventful: while the precious metal traded at around 1,134 US$/ounce last Friday, it already took an upward turn and reached its weekly high of 1,142 US$/ounce on Monday. This was, however, short-lived, with gold taking a downward turn on Tuesday afternoon, a development which corresponded to the weekly lows of a number of currencies against the US dollar, hitting its own weekly low at 1,126 US$/ounce. Since then, the gold price in US dollar has been bobbing between an uninspired 1,128 US$/ounce and 1,137 US$/ounce, currently at 1,131.50 US$/ounce.

For investors in the Eurozone, things looked somewhat brighter due to the weaker euro. From 34.90 €/gram exactly a week ago, it climbed to 35.23 €/gram on Monday. The weekly low was reached yesterday around noon, at 34.70 €/gram. It currently trades at 34.85 €/gram.

Next week, which will be shortened by the holidays (with Tuesday also a bank holiday in London) gold prices will remain dependent upon the development of bond returns and the US dollar. At the same time, we will most likely see positions being closed towards the end of the year. 

A happy and peaceful Christmas to our readers and to all those taking a much deserved vacation: have a safe trip and a good start into the New Year.