The yellow metal continues to feel the weight of better-than-expected..

The yellow metal continues to feel the weight of better-than-expected consumer confidence data from the University of Michigan survey that was released last week. The survey showed the confidence index rising from 76.4 in April to 83.7 in May, lending support to the greenback and pushing gold to close lower yet again. Gold ended last week at $1364.70 and now sits ~.75% lower to start the day, now trading at $1354.20. A few Fed Heads will grace us with their opinions, and do their best to confuse us as to what exactly the FOMC’s stance on the future of QE actually is,  over the next few days. The most important of those, Mr. Bernanke, will hold court on Wednesday as market participants await the release of the most recent Fed meeting minutes due out the same day. The PGM complex is lower to start the week as well but as the mining industry in South Africa heads into a period of wage negotiations, it’s likely that heightened tensions in the region could provide, at the least, a cushion to the downside. It seems the general consensus is that the wage increases that will be requested by the NUM and AMCU are likely to be a difficult, if not impossible, pill to swallow for the major mining companies who have been dealing with a number of issues including lower metal prices and increased mining costs. Have a great day!