Gold and silver started Tuesday a bit higher than where they ended on Monday mostly thanks to some outside markets giving the metals room to stretch their legs. Crude oil prices were higher while the US Dollar Index started the day lower than where it had ended Monday’s trading session.

There are a few economic reports due out on Tuesday, though most traders will be holding steady until they hear Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s address to the US House of Representatives some time on Wednesday.

Bernanke’s Address

Tomorrow will likely see precious metals manipulated in one way or another seeing as that is the case just about every time Bernanke makes any sort of speech or address. He will be addressing the House of Representatives about the state of the economy as well as the future of monetary policy in the US. Precious metals investors will be focusing in on the latter aspect of the address as monetary policy has been a topic of heavy debate in the United States recently.

Currently the popular thought is that monetary policy in the US will be changed significantly before the end of the year. Many are pointing towards September as the time when the Fed will begin to “wind down” its current Quantitative Easing policy. The reason this is such a prevalent thought is due to the fact that the US economy has been thriving as of late, especially when compared to many other major economies of the world. While countries like China and Japan are in the midst of a bit of economic crisis, the US is on its way to full recovery from the recession we witnessed only a few years ago.

European Union Contraction

It is no secret that many of the world’s major economies are in bad shape, and perhaps the worst of them all is the overall state of the economies that comprise the European Union. A report during the overnight hours indicated that both imports and exports for the region have fallen. This bit of data suggests that the EU will suffer contraction for yet another quarter, at least.

While many European economies are in disarray, Asian markets seem to be on the up and up, at least from a precious metals point of view. Early reports are indicating that physical demand for both gold and silver is on the rise in places like India and the rest of Asia. So far this summer we have seen subdued demand for gold and silver, despite prices being incredibly low.  This news means that both online and brick and mortar precious metals dealers are going to have to handle larger order quantities in the coming days and weeks.