Gold Spot Price Open: $1,653

Gold Spot Price Close: $1,677

Change in Gold Spot Price:+$24

Silver Spot Price Open: $30.22

Silver Spot Price Close: $30.90

Change in Silver Spot Price:+$0.68

Gold and silver both rallied after a disappointingly stagnant day on Wednesday due to some key news out of Europe and the United States. Gold climbed to the tune of 24 dollars while silver was just two cents shy of picking up 70.

The USD and euro were exchanging blows all day and while the euro ended the day on a strong note, the USD dipped significantly. The main culprit behind the euro’s gains was the head of the European Central Bank announcing that it will refrain from cutting interest rates in 2013. With that good news came the dismal news that 2013 will likely be a year of slow recovery for the whole of Europe.

News out of the US is that for the second straight week jobless claims are on the rise which in turn means that consumer spending will be on the decline. As families and households become more frugal due to the uncertainty of the job market, spending will likely be put to a halt or at least slowed down. Whenever people fear for the future of their funds they look to keep their assets safe, in many cases by investing in gold or silver. So long as the job market remains unstable you can expect precious metals to benefit.