January 14, 2019 -- Gold finished last week almost flat and silver lost a bit of ground. The markets appear to be consolidating after a few weeks of strong buying. Safe-haven demand has slowed a bit as equity markets found bottoms and turned higher.

Seven straight days of buying, before Friday’s pause, have the S&P 500 and NASDAQ off to their best annual starts since 2006. Following the plea made by Treasury Secretary Mnuchin over the Christmas break, Wall Street banks and the Fed’s Plunge Protection Team seem to have responded by putting a bid under stocks, at least temporarily.

It will be tougher for the metals markets to resume the rally that began in mid December with stocks – and the appetite for risk – back on the rise.

There is, of course, no knowing which way equities will be headed in the coming weeks. A successful trade deal with China and/or more dovish talk from the Fed would support further gains. A resolution to the government shutdown might also give stocks a boost.

On the other hand, if impasses around trade and border wall funding persist, the recent gains in stocks will look hard to justify.



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