The price of gold on the Stock Exchange of New York (COMEX) fell to its lowest level over the past three weeks and settled on the basis of trades below U.S. $ 930 per ounce on June 15. Thus, the official price of gold on COMEX in relation to its active futures (August) became 927.5 U.S. dollars per ounce, which is the minimum figure since 18 May of this year. The price of gold transactions settled in the range 926.5 to 940.3 USD per ounce.
Troy ounce of gold became cheaper by U.S. $ 13.2 on COMEX on June 15, and it resulted to the fact that the official price of gold fell by a further 1.4% on the market. Reducing the price of gold was due to a visible strengthening of the dollar in world currency market. Dollar Index (spot), reflecting the change of exchange rate of the American dollar to the “basket” of six leading world currencies, rose by 1% for the first time in the past three weeks on June 15, which exceeded the point 81.
The dollar went up compared to the euro and other currencies except the Japanese yen, making the buying of gold unattractive. The increased investment demand for the dollar, as believed by experts, has caused a statement by the Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Alexei Kudrin at a meeting of G8 finance ministers in Lecce (Italy), that it is too early to look for an alternative to the dollar, which will still remain the principal reserve currency in the world.
Oil prices fell by an average of 2% in stock markets on June 15, which technically also helped the gold price reduction. Over the past two trading days the price of gold on COMEX has fallen to 34.5 U.S. $ per ounce, or by 3.4%, which was also due to a lack of fresh investment in physical gold.
The reserves of gold of the world’s largest specialized investment fund SPDR Gold Trust did not change and amounted to 1 thousand tons 132.15 as of June 15. This is the lowest point since May 29. It should be recalled that the gold of SPDR Gold Trust had reached a new record value – 1 thousand 134.03 tons on June 1, but since that day it has fallen to 1.88 tons.
The price of silver on COMEX fell to its lowest level over the past three weeks on June 15. Thus, the official price of silver in relation to its active futures (July) amounted to 14.030 U.S. $ per ounce. This is the lowest point since May 18 of this year, the price of transactions with silver settled in the range of 14.030-14.875 U.S. $ per ounce.
Troy ounce of silver became cheaper by 84.5 cents on COMEX on June 15, and as a result the official price of silver fell by 5.6% on that day. The price of silver on COMEX has remained below 15 USD per ounce for the last two trading days. Over the past two sessions the price of silver fell by nearly 1.5 U.S. $ per ounce, or about by 10%, which was technically due to falling prices for gold and copper.
It should be recalled that the price of gold lost 3.4% over the past two trading days. At the same time, the price of copper fell by 6.5% on COMEX since the second half of the last week, which in combination provided a decreased demand for silver and its sale.
The price of platinum fell by 3.6% on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) on June 15 and settled at its lowest level over the past two weeks. The official price of platinum with respect to its active futures (July) amounted to 1,213.7 U.S. $ per ounce. This is the lowest point since May 29 of this year, and the prices of transactions settled in the range 1206.1-1255.9 U.S. $ per ounce.
The price of palladium fell by 3.2% on NYMEX on June 15 and settled below $ 250 per ounce for the first time in one and a half weeks. Thus the official price of palladium amounted to 246.00 USD per ounce with respect to its active futures (September). This is the lowest point since June 3. The prices of transactions settled within the range 243.00-253.25 USD per ounce. The reduction of the price of palladium has continued since the beginning of this week. Troy ounce of palladium became cheaper during one day by U.S. $ 8.10 on NYMEX on June 15. As a result the price of palladium fell nearly by 13 U.S. $ per ounce, or nearly by 5% over the last three trading days.
The drop in the price of palladium was technically due to a general weakening in demand for precious metals, primarily in platinum. At the same time, it should be noted that the price of palladium settled higher than the prices of other precious metals on the basis of the trading day. Thus, the price of palladium became at its lowest level for one and a half weeks on June 15.