Precious metals trended downward for a majority of what proved to be a very quiet week. With little economic data on the table, and a market that is turning increasingly bearish, it is growing extremely difficult for precious metals to make any strides forward. This weekend will be extended due to the Labor Day holiday and won’t see US markets open back up until Tuesday morning. With that said, I expect that next week, short though it may be, to bring about a good amount of economic data for investors to chew on and mull over.

In addition to this, the eyes of the world are once again fixating upon the violence and tensions ravaging much of Eastern Ukraine. Reports released just a few days ago saw Ukrainian military officials claiming that Russian troops had crossed over the border into Eastern Ukraine. Despite initially denying these allegations, it became clear that Russian forces had, in fact, crossed over the border and began seizing towns. This was all going on while Ukrainian leaders and Russian leaders were participating in supposed “peace talks.” With peace a seemingly good distance away, there is no saying what the next few weeks holds for the situation in Eastern Europe.

Upbeat US Data Spurs US Dollar

Despite this week being generally quiet, yesterday did bring about an all-important US GDP report from the second quarter of this year. According to the data, the US GDP grew by more than 4% during the second quarter on an annualized basis. This news prompted the US Dollar to make gains yesterday; gains that continued into today.

Over the past few weeks, it has been clear that US equities as well as the US Dollar are dominating the US trading sphere. With few factors coming in to move markets too far in any one direction and a growing belief that interest rates will be raised in the US sometime in the near future, it is not a market where buying interest in precious metals is flowing freely.

Perhaps with the onset of next week, however, all that will change. The European Central Bank policy meeting is on the slate for next week and so too is a very important US jobs report. Though there is no saying how these two events will unfold, it is safe to say that they will definitely be drawing the attention of the global marketplace.