Despite the obvious infringement on personal freedom going on in Cyprus

Despite the obvious infringement on personal freedom going on in Cyprus, the situation appears to be rather calm following the re-opening of banks on the island nation. Financial institutions opened their doors for the first time in two weeks, albeit with pretty hefty  capital restrictions in an attempt to avoid a mass exodus of money off the island. Credit/debit limits for transactions abroad are limited to €5,000 a month and only €3,000 in cash is allowed to be taken on each trip out of the country. The precious complex appears steady ahead of the U.S. market open. The safe-haven support in gold has given way to some profit taking ahead of month-end quarter-end book squaring and the yellow metal continues to be range bound.  Silver managed to claw back losses by the end of yesterday’s session, closing at $28.61 following an adventure towards the $28 level. Here in the states, U.S. equities markets will look to close out the quarter on a positive not and while initial jobless claims and a revised 2012 fourth quarter GDP reading won’t help that cause, it’s not widely expected to hurt it either. Jobless claims rose an unexpected 16,000 requests last week and the prior week was revised upward by 5,000 as well. GDP growth for the last quarter of 2012 was revised upward to .4%. Hardly anything to write home about. Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!