The spot values of gold and silver are in the green this morning, but are mostly moving sideways. All in all, this week was lackluster for precious metals and is looking like it will result in weekly losses for both spot gold and silver. There hasn’t been too much in the way of markets-moving economic data on this week’s slate, and for that reason metals have not moved all that much. With that said, the weekly losses compiled by gold and silver are not anything too significant.

Because of the lack of economic data, investors this week have had plenty of time to focus on what is going on with the Russian economy. Over the course of this year, the ruble has lost more than 50% of its value against the USD and is continuing to lose value. On top of that, crude oil prices are continuing to fall and Western sanctions are only making things worse. As we head into the new year, it will be interesting to see what, if anything, the Russian government will do to combat their failing economy and diminishing quality of life of the average citizen.

FOMC Meeting More Lackluster Than Anything Else

In the lead-up to this week, the market was almost wholly preoccupied with this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting and what, if anything, would come as a result of it. By the time markets opened on Monday, most investors in the US and abroad were expecting to hear the FOMC make an announcement regarding the future of interest rates in the United States.

The meeting, which kicked off on Tuesday and wrapped up Wednesday afternoon, ended up bringing about very little fresh information. By the time Janet Yellen was finished speaking to the media on Wednesday, investors were left pondering over more or less the same language that has been presented to them for the last few months. Yellen, in her comments, reiterated that there is still considerable time before interest rates in the US are raised. This more dovish outlook on interest rate hikes helped US equities bounce back and, surprisingly enough, helped gold and silver stabilize after a few days’ worth of losses.
Though metals are still poised for weekly losses, those losses are mostly negligible. As we look ahead to next week, it is highly likely that investors will be taking a majority of the week off in order to get an early start on holiday celebrations.