U.S. equity markets tumbled on Wednesday amid growing concerns over the debt ceiling, while gold held firm near its new record high

The broader U.S. equity markets tumbled on Wednesday amid growing concerns over the debt ceiling, while gold held firm near its new record high. The gold price spiked to anther all-time high, touching $1,626 per ounce Wednesday morning. The price of gold advanced following the news that durable goods orders unexpectedly fell 2.1% in June – versus expectations of a gain of 0.3%. Worries that a more severe drop in consumer spending is forthcoming weighed on stock and commodity markets. Crude oil fell 1.1% to $98.47 per barrel and copper sank 0.8% to $4.44 per pound. Silver followed the gold price higher, rising to $41.07 per ounce.

Dennis Gartman also provided commentary in support of the gold price in a recent edition of The Gartman Letter. “We have returned…modestly…to the long side of gold in non-US dollar terms…The major trends remain upward and we remain bullish of gold as we have been for months and years.”

It is worth noting that Gartman’s bullish gold price outlook came despite his prediction that the U.S. will raise the debt ceiling by August 2 and not default. The U.S. “has not defaulted in the past and it will not default next week. The US is not Argentina. The US is not Greece. The US in not Russia…all of whom have defaulted on sovereign debts in the past one hundred years…The US is and shall remain the world’s reserve currency.”