While last week was a short week for most trading desks

While last week was a short week for most trading desks it contained some interesting and market moving news. The US NFP reported on Friday was significantly weaker than expected with the number coming in at gain of 120K jobs against an expectation of 205K. The previous report was quite strong with a revised gain of 240K jobs. The 50% drop in the NFP # this month is not to be over looked as it has reminded investors and traders that recovery in the world’s largest economy will not be as rapid as many have suspected. In addition, the content of Fed’s meeting minutes released earlier last week quenched rumors of further quantitative easing. With both of these factors in mind the precious metals have been trading in a very choppy manner over the last four sessions.

Gold has ranged from a high of $1670 to a low of $1613. The initial selloff came as a reaction to the Fed minutes with gold losing more than $50 in 2 sessions. It has since managed to retrace some of its losses on short covering into the long weekend and the weak NFP data. Silver has reacted in the same manner trading in a range between $31 and $33. Both metals will continue to trade in such a manner as investors rebalance positions and revise their outlook of economic growth and inflationary pressures in the near term.

The PGM’s have been relatively strong during the last 2 sessions, despite a selloff in the broader commodities complex. Many investors have reduced their bullish positions in the commodities sector as the Fed signaled it that further monetary stimulus is unlikely. Platinum and palladium initially suffered losses as did gold and silver, however they have managed to rebound well. The main concern going forward in the industrial precious metals markets will be the growth of the Chinese economy. While it has been forecasted to shrink significantly from last year’s 9.2% growth rate, some still remain quite bullish on the growth of world largest metals consumer. The outlook for all the precious metals remain bullish in the long term , however many are forecasting near term weakness as larger players in the metals markets rebalance their portfolios to take into account the recent developments in “Fedspeak” and the US economy.

Good Luck.

Metals	Last	%Change	Low	High
Au-Jun	1645.7	0.96%	1636.7	1649.9
Pt-Jul	1618.3	0.67%	1611.3	1627
Pd-Jun	644	0.02%	640.70	653.00
Ag-May	31.550	-0.58%	31.310	32.100
London	AM	PM	Minor	PGMs
Au	1622.5	1631	Rh	1400
Pt	1605	1592	Ru	120
Pd	640	635	Ir	1100
Ag	31.27	DJI	12940.68	-119.46
Currencies
	USD	EUR	JPY	GBP
USD	0	1.3125	0.012257	1.5899
EUR	0.762	0	0.93389	1.2114
JPY	81.59	107.08	0	129.714
GBP	0.629	0.82548	0.7709	0
Crude Brent	121.84	Comex Copper	371.95
Crude WTI	101.59	Nat Gas	2.09
*THESE PRICES ARE FOR INDICATION ONLY CALL FOR QUOTES