25th July 2017

 We had one of the quietest weekly starts in the precious metals space that we can remember in a long time, with gold and silver finishing essentially flat. Platinum managed to eke out a modest gain, while palladium finished down slightly. The currency markets were also extremely quiet, which may be one reason why the precious group was so subdued. The dollar ended mixed against a number of currencies, but earlier in the day, it reached a one-year low against a general currency basket, perhaps not that surprising given that speculative short positions reached their highest levels since February of 2013. We also suspect that currency traders are moving to the sidelines ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting; although these meetings typically provide some support to the dollar, this month’s get-together will likely be a nonevent, as investors expect only modest changes to policy language and certainly no move on the rate front until much later in the year.