Daily Market Report 1/4/13

GOLD

Late yesterday the minutes of the December Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting were released. The minutes showed that three governors felt that the latest round of quantitative easing may not be needed past the end of 2013. This news was bullish for the U.S. Dollar, but very bearish for precious metals and the price of Gold dropped $15 per ounce in aftermarket trading. The reaction to the Fed minutes continued in Asia and in early morning, and we saw Gold drop to $1,625 per ounce before sizeable buying appeared. At 11am PDT today, Gold rallied back above the key $1,650 per ounce support level, and is trading at $1,651.20, down $23.80 per ounce on heavy volume. 

SILVER

When Gold corrected to $1,625 per ounce this morning, Silver dropped to $29.22 per ounce. At the point demand increased and Silver started to rally back. At 11am PDT today, Silver is trading at $30.02 per ounce, down $0.99 per ounce on active volume. 

In December 2012, the U.S. Mint sold 1,635,000 1oz American Silver Eagles, the third highest December amount in history. Physical demand for Silver is growing and I believe you will see the U.S. mint selling over 6,000,000 1oz Silver Eagles in January of 2013.