Gold futures weekly recap, July 21 – July 25

Gold futures were little changed this week, as a strong performance of the US dollar, coupled with robust economic data pared haven demand spurred by the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. US Fed meets next week to decide on interest rates and monthly assets purchases.

Gold futures for delivery in August added 0.97% on Friday, closing at $1 303.3 per troy ounce, about 0.5% down for the week. Weekly high and low were at $1 319.0 on Monday and $1 287.5 per barrel on Thursday, respectively. The contract dropped about 2% last week.

Silver closed the week 0.6% lower at $20.778 per troy ounce. Platinum lost 0.7% to close at $1 481.20, while palladium was down 0.4% at $879.80.

US reports

Initial jobless claims weekly figures scored an eight-year low this week, boosting sentiment ahead of the payrolls and unemployment data next week. Meanwhile, consumer inflation also proved in the upbeat, as a CPI rate of 2.1% was logged for June, ahead of the key Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting next week. Factories were reported to have expanded activities slightly slower than before, but logged a sizable growth nonetheless.

Several housing figures were also posted this week. Existing home sales scored better than expected in June, while new home sales scored a sizable monthly decline. Pending sales will be reported next week.

Elsewhere, Markit posted its preliminary July PMI readings for the Eurozone, with both manufacturing and services PMI for the Bloc logged quite higher than expected, standing for a sizable growth.

Germany was again leading the rally, while France, while also logging slightly better than forecast, is still in the backwaters with a contraction for factories and only minor gains for services.

Stocks, dollar

US stocks saw mixed results this week. Dow 30 closed the week about 0.8% lower, Nasdaq 100 added 0.6% and S&P 500 was almost unchanged for the week, as trading on Wall Street closed on Friday.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Dndex, which measures the greenbacks performance against six other major currencies, scored sizable gains this week, closing some 0.7% higher at 81.15, ahead of the crucial FOMC meeting next week.

Holding at the SPDR trust were unchanged at 801.84 tons on Friday, after losing about 4 tons on Thursday and a further 2 tons on Monday.

Ukraine, sanctions

The US said on Thursday, that it has evidence of Russian artillery firing across the border on Ukrainian military positions. The statement added, that Russia intends to deliver more and more powerful weaponry to separatists.

The West has widely accepted that it was pro-Russian rebels, who shot down the Malaysian airliner last week, using a Buk surface-to-air missile, supplied by Russia.

The Kremlin has not yet commented on the latest accusations, but has so far denied all allegations in relation with the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

During the Crimean crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin also frequently denied any Russian involvement, only to later admit that it was indeed Russian soldiers, who drove off the Ukrainian military and took control of the peninsula.

In separate developments, the EU released an expanded list of sanctioned Russian individuals on Friday. The new round of restrictions does not include major companies, but the Bloc added that it will target whole industries soon. Officials had said earlier, that the new round of sanctions will touch on major sectors, such as finance, defense, high-tech and “dual-use” energy items.

The EU said it is targeting those who “actively support or are benefiting from Russian decision makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea or the destabilisation of eastern Ukraine”.

Next week

Next week will offer quite a bit of economic data. In addition to a plethora of PMI readings, there will be US consumer spending and income, GDP growth, employment data and a key FOMC meeting. The EU will post CPI, as well as employment data.