Equity markets lost some lustre overnight, with profit taking on Wall Street, while all the action was in the precious metal markets. Silver spiked to over USD$80, dragging other precious metals along for the ride, but suffered a severe correction during the day’s trade. Silver is a heavily utilised industrial metal, as well as a store of wealth and has recently been heavily traded in the delivery and non-delivery speculative markets. Thin markets can accentuate any real moves. The US Dollar was slightly stronger, driving the EUR back to 1.1750, while the GBP slipped to 1.3480.The stronger reserve pushed commodity currencies lower, with the AUD surrendering 0.6700, while the NZD briefly slipped below 0.5800. The Australian economy is a heavy producer of precious metals, thereby heavily invested in the recent price action, in the minerals market.
