The Weekly Dig
Haywood Mining Team
Fed Minutes Send Gold Higher Before Late-Week Fall
§ It was another up and down week for the yellow metal after minutes from the July Federal Reserve meeting showed officials were split over whether to raise interest rates; Some preferred to wait because inflation remained flat, while others were eager to go sooner as the labour market nears full employment. Precious metals prices are likely to remain volatile at least over the short term as Investors search for additional clues on the body’s next move during Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s speech on the August 26 in Kansas City. Following the Fed’s minutes, the price of gold (↑0.3%) rose briefly above $1,350 before settling at $1,344 per ounce Friday. The rising gold price coincided with a weakening U.S. dollar; in particular, the Canadian dollar finished at 0.78 U.S. cents on Friday. Mining equities were generally flat this week; the S&P/TSX Global Gold index was down slightly, finishing at 261 while the Global Base Metal index was up, finishing at 87.9. The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index finished flat at 833 on Friday. In other precious metals, Silver (↓2%) and platinum (↓0.8%) both fell, finishing at $19.3 and $1,114 per ounce respectively, while palladium rose 3% to finish at $711 per ounce. Base metals had a positive week, with copper (↑0.77%), nickel (↑0.45%), lead (↑2%) and zinc (↑2%) all up, finishing at $2.18, $4.68, $0.85 and $1.04 per pound respectively. The WTI crude price surged again, rising 6% this week and 17% since August 2nd on continued speculation that major oil producers may freeze production when they meet in Algeria next month. Finally, the UxC Broker Average Price of uranium was down (↓1%) this week, closing at $25.87 per pound on Friday.
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