Precious metals are not likely to get a boost from today’s report on US factory orders. Orders to US factories rose for a third consecutive month in April, adding to evidence that manufacturing is regaining momentum after a harsh winter.
Orders increased 0.7 percent in April, pushed higher by a surge in demand for military hardware, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. That followed a 1.5 percent increase in March and a 1.7 percent climb in February. Unfortunately, the market had shrugged off any gains from the report by midday Tuesday. A stronger dollar also hurts silver, gold and other precious investment metals.
Japanese Silver saw a 1.8 percent drop on Monday, June 2, landing at JPY 612.00 ($6.01) per 10 grams and making it the biggest mover of the day. After remaining flat for three days, the price of US silver fell 1.3 percent yesterday to $18.80 per ounce. At INR 40,542 ($684.38) per kilogram, Indian silver fell 0.9 percent on Monday. The price of Chinese silver showed little movement yesterday at CNY 4,160 ($665.46) per kilogram.
US Gold bullion prices saw a 1.0 percent decline to $1,246 per ounce. Indian gold bullion finished the day down 0.6 percent to INR 25,514 ($430.70) per 10 grams. The price of Japanese gold bullion declined 0.6 percent to JPY 4,078 ($40.03) per gram. After dropping for two days, the price of Chinese gold bullion flattened at CNY 252.80 ($40.44).
US Platinum bar closed 1.5 percent lower at $1,432 per ounce. The price of Japanese platinum bar fell 0.7 percent to JPY 4,740 ($46.52) per gram. Chinese platinum bar stayed flat at around CNY 312.00 ($49.91) per gram.
US Palladium bar ended the day at $831.00 per ounce, after the 0.2 percent drop yesterday. The price of Japanese palladium bar fell 0.1 percent on Monday, just off the 30-day high of JPY 2,730 ($26.80) per gram it hit the day prior. The price of Chinese palladium bar remained steady at CNY 189.00 ($30.23) per gram.