Gold Spot Price Open: $1,285

Gold Spot Price Close: $1,293

Change in Gold Spot Price: +$8

Silver Spot Price Open: $19.91

Silver Spot Price Close: $20.07

Change in Silver Spot Price:+$0.16

Gold and silver made modest gains on Tuesday, one day ahead of this week’s marquis news story. When all was said and done, gold had picked up about 8 dollars while silver gained roughly 16 cents.

During the morning hours gold and silver were able to make gains right out of the gate thanks to a lower US Dollar Index as well as higher crude oil prices. In addition to this, early reports are indicating that lackluster demand for physical gold and silver in Asia may be done and dusted with. Demand has reportedly shot up in the last few days in places like India and China where we have seen otherwise dismal craving for precious metals this summer; even in the midst of some of the lowest spot values we have seen in years.

Perhaps gains could have been bigger for gold and silver if it weren’t for many investors holding on to their assets until after tomorrow’s address to the House of Representatives by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Since the main talking points of Bernanke’s speech are the economy and the future of monetary policy in the US, investors and market watchers alike will keep a close eye on everything Mr. Bernanke has to say. The popular thought continues to be that Quantitative Easing will be wound down by the end of 2013, with many people believing this “winding down” could happen as early as September of this year. Most of this is speculation up to this point which is why people will be paying close attention to Bernanke’s words in hopes that he lends clarification to monetary policy’s future tomorrow.

One disappointing bit of news that we need to report is in regards to the many economies that make up the European Union. Recent reports have indicated that exports and imports in the region are down in the second quarter. This is another consecutive quarter of poor economic results out of the EU which have caused many investors and market experts to anticipate further economic contraction in the third quarter of 2013. If European leaders do not make moves fast, this could be one of the most economically disappointing years Europe has seen in recent history.