Stock Trends: Nymex Gold and Eur-Usd

Celine Francisco

Mkt 171 – X

26 August 2018

NYMEX Gold and EUR-USD

The rate for NYMEX Gold for August 21, 2018, 4 pm (GMT+8) is 1186.8 +13.5 (+1.13%). Figure 1 below shows the 6-month trend for NYMEX Gold. In the past 6 months, the rate for this commodity has been decreasing. The peak can be seen at mid-April 2018, and the low can be seen at mid-August 2018.^[1]

[pic 1]        Figure 1: NYMEX Gold 6-month trend[pic 2][pic 3][pic 4][pic 5]

        The reason for the recent low rates for gold is that US dollar interest rates have increased. The price of gold is based on US dollars. And as the dollar climbs to its 13-month high, the price of gold continues to decline.^[2]

The rate for EUR-USD as of August 21, 2018, 4 pm (GMT+8) is 1.1519USD +0.0037 (+0.32%). Below on Figure 2 is the 6-month trend for the EUR-USD currency exchange. In the past 6 months, the rate has been trending downward. The peak is recorded at 1.24 on March 26, 2018, and the low at 1.13 on August 13-14, 2018.^[3]

[pic 6]        Figure 2: EUR-USD 6-month trend[pic 7][pic 8][pic 9][pic 10]

        The Euro recently had a sharp decline during May 2018 due to two main reasons; First, a political turmoil in Italy. According to The Guardian, an election was likely to happen last July due to the failure of Italy’s populist parties to form a government. “Investors fear they could become a referendum on Italy’s future in the single currency.” (The Guardian)^[4]

        The second reason for the sudden decline in the Euro is the “renewed fears” of a trade war between China and the US. The Euro declined after US President Donald Trump announced $50B worth of tariffs on Chinese goods just days after his treasury secretary said the trade war was “on hold”.^[5]