Editor’s Note: With so much market volatility, stay tuned for daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our quick roundup of today’s must-have news and expert opinions. Register here!
(Kitco News) – Gold prices were modestly higher in mid-day US trading on Thursday, with short-covering and bargain-hunting rebounding after prices hit 15-month lows overnight . Gold prices were also boosted today by crude oil shedding heavy early losses, a drop in US Treasury yields and a weaker US dollar index. August gold futures were last up $9.60 at $1,709.60. September Comex silver futures were up $0.002 at $18.67 an ounce.
The European Central Bank raised its main interest rate by a more aggressive 0.5% on Thursday. It was the ECB’s first rate hike in 11 years. The euro rallied and the US dollar index sold off on the news, helping gold and silver prices rise. The US Federal Reserve is expected to raise its key interest rate by at least 0.75% at next week’s FOMC meeting.
Global stock markets were mostly weaker overnight. American stock indexes point to noon. US stock index bulls are having a good week and have restarted short-term price uptrends on the daily charts.
In other overnight news, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has tendered his resignation for the second time as his government looks set to collapse. Italian government bond yields rose to 3.6% over 10 years, Russia has restarted natural gas flowing through the Nord Stream pipeline to Europe. This helped put pressure on crude oil prices.
Key external markets today see Nymex crude oil prices lower and trading around $97.25 a barrel. The US dollar index was slightly lower in US midday trading. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note is as high as 2.967%.
Technically, August gold futures prices scored a bullish “outside day” on the daily bar chart today, after hitting a 15-month low earlier. Short hedges and bargain hunting were featured. Gold futures bears still have the solid short-term overall technical advantage. Prices are trending lower on the daily bar chart. The recent “volatility collapse” on the daily bar chart (where at least three price bars in a row are significantly smaller than the previous price bars) suggested that a bigger price move was coming soon, and occurred from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning. The next upside price objective for the bulls is to produce a close above the solid resistance at $1,750.00. The next short-term bearish price objective for bones is pushing futures prices below strong technical support at $1,650.00. First resistance is seen at this week’s high of $1,722.00 and then at $1,735.00. First support is seen at $1,700.00 and then at today’s low of $1,678.40. Wyckoff Market Rating: 1.5.
September silver futures bears have the solid short-term overall technical advantage. The next bullish price target for silver bulls is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $20.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is to close prices below the solid support at $17.00. First resistance is seen at this week’s high of $19.03 and then at $19.36. The next support is seen at $18.50 and then $18.00. Wyckoff Market Rating: 1.5.
New York September copper closed up 210 points at 330.40 cents today. Prices have closed closer to today’s session high. Copper bears have the solid short-term overall technical advantage. The daily bar chart shows a strong downward trend in prices from six weeks ago. The next bullish price target for copper bulls is to push and close prices above solid technical resistance at 375.00 cents. The next downside price objective for the bears is a price close below the solid technical support at 315.00 cents. The first resistance is seen at this week’s high of 337.55 cents and then at 340.00 cents. First support is seen at today’s low of 325.05 cents and then at the July low of 313.15 cents. Wyckoff Market Rating: 1.5.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee this accuracy. This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a request to make any exchange of goods, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept responsibility for any loss and/or damage arising from the use of this publication.