YEREVAN, December 26. /ARKA/. Gold prices rose by 0.64% last week to $1,607.25 per one troy ounce against the backdrop of favorable macroeconomic data from the U.S. and the eurozone, particularly from Germany, as well as due to a successful auction on bonds in Spain. However, the rise has stalled after the European Central Bank said it will provide 489.19 billion euros in loans to European banks repayable in three years.

The pledged amount exceeded the expectations of market participants, further intensifying fears about the extent of the debt crisis in the eurozone. As a result, gold came under pressure. The final data about US GDP for the third quarter of 2011 released on Thursday did not add optimism and the gold price continued to fall. Since this week precedes New Year festivities and most of market participants will have holidays, no abrupt changes in the price of gold should be expected. However, anticipated macroeconomic data from the USA and European Union may have some impact on gold prices. The estimated range of gold price changes this week is 1580.0 - 1635.0 U.S. dollars per one troy ounce.

The price of copper at futures market last week rose by 2.75% to 3.4555 U.S. dollars per one pound due to a generally positive macroeconomic statistics from the U.S. and the eurozone. Indeed, despite the forecasts, the IFP Institute indicator of business environment conditions in Germany in December rose to 107.2 from 106.6 in November.

The number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. last week dropped to 364,000 from projected 380,000. Despite the fact that the final data on U.S. GDP for the third quarter appeared to be slightly worse than expected - 2%, they have raised hopes for the restoration of the largest economy in the world. The falling stock of copper at London Metal Exchange (LME) came as an additional supporting factor for this metal prices.

This week the cost of copper will be determined by economic news from the U.S. and the eurozone. Moderately positive macro-economic statistics will support copper price upward trend. If the statistics is negative, copper price could resume its decline. The estimated range of fluctuations in the copper price at futures market this week is $3,36-$3,55 per one pound.

Michael Verdyan, FOREX analyst, special for ARKA news agency.

The opinion of the author does not necessarily represent the opinion of ARKA.