Gold prices fell last week, as the US dollar strengthened on mounting fears the European debt crisis is worsening, where yields on Italian bonds rose last week above 7%, a level that forced Greece, Ireland, and Portugal to seek bailouts, while yields on Spanish bonds also rose last week, which raised fears that the debt crisis is spreading into major economies within the euro zone area.
Meanwhile, economic data from the US generally showed better than expected performance, where manufacturing activities continued to expand in November, while retail sales rose above forecasts in October, which eased some of the concerns in markets over the outlook for growth in the world’s largest economy. Nonetheless, the huge pessimism from Europe remained the dominant theme around global financial markets.
Europe will be very much the focus next week, where traders will be eyeing new developments on the European debt crisis, where Italy and Spain, the third and fourth largest economies in the euro zone area, are starting to feel the pressure from the debt crisis, and the uncertainty that is surrounding the outlook continues to weigh down on confidence.
Important data will be released from Europe and the United States next week, where manufacturing and growth figures are expected from Germany, while the US economic calendar is full of economic data on housing, growth, income, and confidence. Accordingly, we should expect heavy fluctuations to dominate gold prices next week. We should also note that US markets will be closed on Thursday, as Americans celebrate Thanks Giving, while US markets will close early on Friday.
Also, on Wednesday November 23, the deadline set by US President Barack Obama for the super committee to announce budget cuts of at least $1.2 trillion in order to contain the widening budget deficit, will be due, and if the Congress fails to pass the cuts, an automatic measure to cut spending and raise taxes will be activated.
I continue to expect that gold prices will rise over the coming period, however, i also expect volatility to continue to dominate gold prices, as despite the recent improvement in overall conditions, yet risks are still threatening the progress of improvement, especially as the outlook for global economies remains full of uncertainty, and that should continue to provide gold prices with the safe haven appeal.
(Complied by Mitesh Rasaikar, CEO (Marketing & Finance), Maya Iron Ores)