This week brings with it a multitude of events that will no doubt shape the future pricing of gold and silver. Key events include today’s release of the ISM manufacturing report and Wednesday’s release of Fed minutes.

As we close out the books for the first quarter of 2017, we see trends which have emerged, as well as trends that have continued. As always, there are winners and losers.

It’s all about the dollar. Or is it? There are certainly additional outside factors which have put pressure on gold. However, it is the U.S. dollar which has accounted for the clear majority of precious metal weakness this week.