Gold Spot Price Open: $1,226

Gold Spot Price Close: $1,233

Change in Gold Spot Price: +$7

Silver Spot Price Open: $18.63

Silver Spot Price Close: $18.75

Change in Silver Spot Price:+$0.12

Precious metals spot values traded sideways for most of the day on Monday, but were given a bit of a boost thanks to some physical buying from Asian markets. When all was said and done, gold’s gains exceeded 5 dollars while silver was able to pick up just about 12 cents. Platinum and palladium did OK today, but traded mostly sideways to slightly downward.

FOMC Meeting to Kick Off Tomorrow

There is no doubting that this week’s biggest event will come in the form of the latest FOMC meeting, expected to kick off on Tuesday and conclude sometime Wednesday afternoon. Though the Federal Open Market Committee meeting is a big deal every month, this time around it is especially important simply because investors are under the impression that they will be getting some more news with regard to when and by how much interest rates in the United States will be raised. As of now, there are conflicting beliefs, with some people thinking that interest rates will remain the same until next Spring, while others think that they will be hiked sometime in the near future–perhaps after the turn of the new year.

Though it is still not clear whether the Fed will actually offer any concrete insight into the future of interest rates, it is clear that the meeting will catch the undivided attention of investors the world over. As of the writing of this post, a growing number of investors are beginning to believe that the Fed will offer up full-disclosure with regard to the future of interest rates. Though I, personally, have some doubts about that, the speculation has caused the USD Index to tick up ever so slightly. At this point, all we can do is play the waiting game until Janet Yellen and other high-ranking members of the Fed address the media in the wake of this week’s meeting.

Equity Markets Holding Steady Ahead of FOMC, Scotland Referendum

US equity markets are moving in different directions to begin the week, but are, for the most part, trading within a well-defined range. As a matter of fact, the same can be said about most European equity markets as well. With so much hinging on Scotland’s referendum vote, which will decide whether they remain part of the UK or become independent, it should come as no surprise that most investors are holding their positions. What’s more, an IPO from e-commerce giant Alibaba scheduled for later in the week has a lot of investors shifting their portfolios around, but this has not had too much of an impact on equities.

All in all, the latter part of this week is shaping up to be quite exciting. There will be a flurry of economic and geopolitical activity, all of which are expected to have some sort of impact on the global marketplace. With regard to the referendum vote specifically, there is no way of saying whether Scots will vote Yes (to become independent) or No, and this alone is a source of a lot of anxiety for investors. Until Wednesday rolls around, however, the marketplace will be seen holding its position and speculating constantly.

Wrap-Up

Though the global marketplace is wholly preoccupied with upcoming economic and geopolitical events, there was a bit of US economic data made public today. A manufacturing report from the US showed that factory output fell by almost a half of a percentage point in August. The report cites poor auto-industry production as a major contributor to the poor numbers.

After a more than 9% increase in the production of vehicle parts in July, a 7% decrease was recorded in August. Though this data was mostly overlooked by the market, it may have some sort of bearing on the Fed’s outlook regarding interest rates in the US.