Gold and silver have continued upon last week’s decline on Monday thanks to a lack of bullish news. In fact, what little news there was on Monday worked against spot gold and silver almost entirely. This week is expected to be a quiet one as there are very few major events to look forward to.
The disagreements between Russia and Ukraine are still causing a rift between the two nations, but the entire situation has calmed down significantly from where it was at only a week or so ago. Over the weekend we saw reports of Ukrainian troops being ousted from military barracks by armed Russians. Now, as Russia actually seizes control of Crimea it will be interesting to see how Ukraine and their Western allies react.
Economic News From Around the World
In addition to the lack of bullish fundamental news, gold and silver are also being driven down in value by the recently poor performance put on by the Chinese economy. Ever since the turn of the year the Chinese have put out report after report of disappointing data.
Today added to that long line of disappointing reports, this time in the form of the HSBC preliminary purchasing managers’ index reading for March. Compared to a February reading of 48.5, March’s preliminary reading only came in at 48.1. This most recent report has prompted many to wonder whether or not the Chinese central bank will consider employing some sort of monetary stimulus to help their ailing economy.
Over the course of the next few months, expect investors to pay particularly close attention to any and all economic and financial developments from China. In case you missed it, there are rumors circulating that a second Chinese corporation may be defaulting on loan payments. If this is the case, it will be much more than the economic system in China that is worrisome.
Today’s EU and US PMI readings for March emitted mixed results, but ended up having little to no impact on the spot values of gold and silver. As we move forward into this week, it will be interesting to see what direction gold and silver head in. A massive sell-off has delivered a critical blow to spot values, though many investors are holding firm to the belief that 2014 will be a positive year for gold and silver.