It’s all about the dollar. Or is it? There are certainly additional outside factors which have put pressure on gold. However, it is the U.S. dollar which has accounted for the clear majority of precious metal weakness this week. 

It may be hard to believe, but the first quarter of 2017 is quickly coming to an end. With only a couple of days left in March, it seems likely that gold prices will score a solid gain in terms of their first quarter performance. Gold was trading at 1144 on January 2nd of this year, and as of today, we have gold futures trading at 1255, which is a net gain of $111 or .088 %.

US equities broke an eight-day losing streak in reaction to positive economic data and an uptick in consumer confidence. The most recent data suggests that Consumer Confidence Index is at its highest level since 2000. The Index gained 9 ½ points in March and is currently at 125.8, which is a 27-year high.

In an 11^th hour move last Friday, President Trump asked House leaders to cancel the vote to repeal and replace Obamacare. Market participants had little to no time to respond to this news on Friday. They did, however, have an opportunity to react to this news yesterday as markets opened overseas.

The tension in the air was palpable as market participants waited for the initiation of a vote on the health care bill. In an 11^th hour move, with under a half hour before the House was set to vote, President Trump asked House leaders to cancel today’s vote.

Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of voting on a healthcare bill you do not believe will have enough votes to pass, or to take arms against the bill, and by opposing it … 

Gold continues to shine and has gained value for the last six consecutive trading days. Since the conclusion of last week’s FOMC meeting, market participants have witnessed a powerful rally in gold which has resulted in a 4% gain in a single week. With gold gaining more than $50 over the last week, it is clear that there are multiple factors currently at play.

Just as in the song written by Luther Dixson, and sung by the Shirelles in 1961, “Mama said there’ll be days like this.” US equites are trading under tremendous pressure, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down over 200 points. The net result is that US stocks are having their worst day since the election last November.

For the fourth consecutive day, gold prices have closed higher, now trading to a 2 ½ week high. Gold futures today rose roughly 3 dollars to close at $1233 per ounce. This a continuation of the dramatic rise in gold prices witnessed on Wednesday of last week, immediately following the conclusion of this month’s FOMC meeting.

This was a most interesting week as members of the Federal Open Market Committee concluded their meeting on Wednesday. As expected, they announced the decision to raise their benchmark rates by 25 basis points. This was the first rate hike this year, the second rate hike in four months, and the third rate hike since the economic meltdown of 2008.