Gold Fluctuates In Wake of ECB QE That Was More Aggressive Than Expected
Gold is presently modestly higher in early U.S. trading but price action is choppy and on both sides of unchanged in the aftermath of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s details of the quantitative easing of monetary policy package. Those details were more aggressive than most market watchers expected. February Comex gold was last up $0.60 at $1,294.60 an ounce. Spot gold was last up $0.50 at $1,294.00. March Comex silver last traded up $0.072 at $18.26 an ounce.
U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall To 307,000
(Kitco News) – Following last week’s much higher-than-expected rise, weekly jobless claims in the U.S. fell by 10,000 claims, from the previous week’s revised level, to a seasonally adjusted 307,000 claims during the week to Saturday, the Labor Department said Thursday.
ECB Leaves Rates Unchanged
(Kitco News) – The European Central Bank, as expected, left interest rates unchanged Thursday.
Read moreThe 6 PM Recap With Gary Wagner: Draghi And The German Dragon
Markets seemed to take a breather today. The Dow was up 0.25% on anticipation of stimulus moves by the European Central Bank, and on news that United Health Care and Netflix reported better-than-expected earnings in Q4.
Read moreChina Expects Lower Growth But No ‘Hard Landing’ – Chinese Premier
(Kitco News) – China will continue to see slower economic growth but will not suffer a “hard landing,” said Li Keqiang, Premier of the People’s Republic of China in a keynote speech at the 45th Annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Furuya Metal: uncovering new applications for Iridium
In a recent edition of Tech Metals Insider we reported about the role of iridium crucibles in the manufacturing of sapphire crystals, a process requiring temperatures of around 2,000 degrees celsius. For many years prior, iridium had already been used…
Read moreECB’s QE Won’t Help Europe – Nouriel Roubini
(Kitco News) – Market participants wait impatiently for Thursday’s ECB meeting despite leaked European Central Bank documents suggesting a €50 billion per month bond-purchase program to be announced.
Analysts: Expect Some Profit Taking In Gold If ECB Annouces Expanded QE Measures
(Kitco News) – Investors appear to be taking some profits off the table, pushing the gold price lower on Wednesday, ahead of the European Central Bank monetary policy meeting Thursday.
Gold Backs Off on Mild Profit Taking as U.S., European Stocks Rally on ECB QE Story
Gold prices saw a modest sell off in late-morning Trading Wednesday, as a report the European Central Bank would indeed announce a quantitative monetary stimulus plan boosted U.S. and European stock markets, which in turn prompted some profit-taking p…
Read moreTD Securities: Still A Lot Of Questions After Leaked Details Of ECB Plan
Markets continue to digest the news of leaked documents from the European Central Bank proposing a €50 billion per month bond-purchase program. Eric Green, head of U.S. rates and economic research at TD Securities, says that, despite the headlines, there are still a lot of details missing that will add to market volatility on Thursday. “Is the ECB buying €50 [billion] a month through 2016 beginning in March – implying a buying program north of EUR1 T – or is the buying program confined to 2015 – implying EUR500 – with the option to do more based on incoming data?” he says. “In the case of the former it would be more than expected and in the case of the latter possibly less than expected.” However, he adds that the theme is clear that central banks around the world are “taking more aggressive action to shore up wobbly growth and a ubiquitous decline in actual and implied inflation.”
