Precious Metals Post Gains Amid Greek Default Fears
| Jan 16, 2012 5:17pm EST | 1min:13sec
The precious metals market in the United States today was lighter than usual. There wasn't any floor trading on the Comex and there wasn't any spot trading because of Martin Luther King Day. There was only electronic trading on the Comex.
Precious metals all rose today ... and gold was up zero-point-eight percent. The main reason for the gain was worry over the Eurozone. Things seem to be coming to a head in the Eurozone ... especially with Greece ... which seems to be within weeks of defaulting on its massive sovereign debt. Add to that the fact that Standard & Poor's today downgraded one of the main sources of funding for Eurozone countries ... the European Financial Stability Facility. S&P downgraded the long-term credit rating on the EFSF to double-A-plus from triple-A. The upshot of that is going to be more expensive borrowing for struggling European nations like Spain, Italy and France.
Tomorrow gold should get a lift from Chinese physical demand as the nation prepares to celebrate the Jan. 23 beginning of the Lunar New Year.
