Gold & Silver News -Jan 5 th 2015

Happy New Year! As the year closed and we saw in 2015, traders and analysts were busy looking back on 2014. The general consensus is that overall commodity markets had a terrible year, with 2014 registering the largest annual loss since the global financial crisis of 2008. Analysts have noted that the biggest factor affecting commodity prices this year has been the US dollar, which has had shone brightly in 2014 thanks to an outperforming economy and interest rate differentials.

Gold ended the year roughly where it started, with the yellow metal’s price averaging around USD$1,265 an ounce in 2014. Meanwhile the silver market was less fortunate, with prices losing about 17% on year^[1].

Price and charts snapshot:

On Monday, gold slipped below USD$1,195 (AUD$1,477.17) as major Eurozone stock markets fell – particularly Athens after the Greek government called a snap election following failure to appoint a new president. Silver prices however outperformed gold, rising from last week’s finish despite continued outflows. The metal touched at USD$16.26 (AUD$20.10) per ounce, adding 1.1%.^[2] On Wednesday as the year came to a close, gold ended 2014 flat in Dollar terms, closing close to USD$1200 mark. Likely factors included the US Dollar hitting a fresh 5-year highs with US stock-market futures rising in response on New Year’s Eve. On Friday, as the new year opened, gold futures ended slightly higher as US equities declined, boosting demand for the metal.

Many news outlets have not yet fully opened for the year, but there is nonetheless some talk and discussion surrounding the future of the metals. The US dollar will of course be a crucial factor to the price of the yellow metal into 2015. Victor Thianpiriya, a commodity strategist ANZ said that although the US dollar is expected to remain strong, its negative impact on gold however will weaken throughout the year^[3].

Meanwhile, a commodity analyst from ANZ Bank stated that Chinese demand for physical gold is expected to remain consistent in 2015, which could be a positive factor. However David Jollie from Mitsui’s,noted that prices also need to move higher before the metal can attract new buyers to the market, saying “it is hard to see investor interest driving prices sharply higher in the absence of external stimuli”^[4].

For Silver, Mitsui analyst Jollie thought that seasonal factors could also be positive for silver in the next few months as “silver has generally shown price strength in the first quarter of the year”^[5].

Despite some analysts’ predictions of 2015 being a relatively flat year, there could be much to watch for as the year starts amidst a strong US economy contrasting Eurozone economic issues and the continued crises in Africa and the Middle East.

Author Lisa Casagrande | https://www.goldbullionaustralia.com.au