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Gold Price News: Gold Loses Its Shine As US Job Numbers Rise
Gold prices eased lower on Friday to round off the week on a slightly bearish note.
Prices moved in a range of $1,995 to $2,033 an ounce on Friday, and closed the week at just under the $2,005 an ounce mark.
Through most of the week, gold had traded comfortably above $2,015 an ounce. The market showed a degree of calm through the week after prices hit an all-time high of over $2,100 an ounce on December 4th.
US Non-Farm Payrolls figures came out on Friday, showing that 199,000 jobs were added in November, exceeding market expectations of a 180,000 increase. Signs of a stronger-than-expected economy add weight to a ‘higher for longer’ scenario for interest rates, which would be bearish for gold prices, other things being equal. Nevertheless, the figure was still below the average monthly gain of 240,000 jobs seen in 2022.
The latest figures push against recent expectations that the US Fed could start to cut interest rates in the first half of 2024 and possibly as soon as March. Read More
Silver Price News: Silver In Retreat As Dollar Strengthens
Silver prices fell sharply on Friday, weighed down as gold prices fell at the end of the week.
Prices moved in a range of $23.75 to $23.90 an ounce on Friday morning, but the afternoon session saw prices make a decisive move lower to round off the week at just above the $23.00 mark.
US Non-Farm Payrolls figures released Friday showed a larger than expected rise in jobs in November, which worked against the notion that the US Fed will start cutting interest rates as soon as March 2024. A strong economy would allow more leeway to maintain higher interest rates, while a weakening economy would pressurise the central bank to start cutting them.
Gold and silver prices also came under downward pressure as the US dollar strengthened against other major currencies through the week, making it more expensive to buy precious metals in other currencies. Read More
Gold falls on jobs data and platinum miners cut costs
On Friday, gold prices fell on strong job numbers from the U.S., noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae.
Friday was jobs day. The U.S. economy created 199,000 jobs last month, beating expectations. At the same time, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.7%, down from 3.9% in October.
The strong economy implied that the Fed is further away from easing. On the news, gold prices hit a two-week low and silver a three-week.
According to some analysts, Monday's rally and subsequent sell-off was not helpful for gold's long-term price action. Read More
'The capital markets are broken for the juniors' - Agentis Capital's Michael Gray
Canada's stature as the world's resource capital is declining, said Michael Gray, partner at Agentis Capital.
In mid-November, Gray spoke to Kitco at the Resourcing Tomorrow event in London, U.K.
Agentis is a financial advisory services firm serving infrastructure and mining companies.
Early-stage junior companies have been struggling. Gray said funding is a problem.
"The capital markets are broken for the juniors," said Gray, who noted that resource funds are smaller and most of the holdings are producers. Gray also noted that the enthusiasm for resource investing is falling away in Canada. The country is no longer the world leader it once was.
"The Australians have actually come up since 2020, meeting and surpassing the amount of capital that's being raised in their market versus Canada," said Gray. "This is a bit unsettling for the Canadian financial system in terms of being the world leader for exploration capital." Read More
Gold SWOT: The U.S. government is starting to show bipartisan support for mine development.
The best performing precious metal for the week was platinum, but still down 1.48%. Gold shot past a previous all-time high on Monday as it was turbocharged from the prior Friday when comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that monetary policy is "well into restrictive territory," spurring a plunge in the dollar and Treasury yields as the day started. Gold's surge on Monday completely evaporated before the markets opened in the U.S., finishing the day nearly $50 lower. On a positive note, China added more gold to its reserves in November, their 13th consecutive monthly purchase. Read More
Gold, silver down amid bearish daily outside markets
Gold and silver prices are down near midday U.S. trading Monday. A firmer U.S. dollar index and a slight rise in U.S. Treasury yields to start the trading week are bearish outside market forces for the metals markets. Both metals have also seen their near-term chart postures deteriorate recently, especially in silver. That’s inviting fresh technical selling. Gold and silver bulls are hoping for some friendlier fundamental news with this week’s batch of important economic data. February gold was last down $16.20 at $1,998.20. March silver was last down $0.226 at $23.04.
Traders this week will also keep a closer eye on big U.S. Treasury bond and note auctions on Monday and Tuesday. The U.S. government will sell over $20 trillion of its debt this year. Some market watchers wonder how much longer the U.S. can keep selling more and more of its debt to the marketplace, without serious disruption.
Technically, February gold futures prices hit a three-week low today. The bulls still have the slight overall near-term technical advantage but are fading fast. Prices are still in a two-month-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $2,075.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at the November low of $1,955.40. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $2,023.70 and then at the October high of $2,039.70. First support is seen at $1,990.00 and then at $1,975.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.0.
Image Source: Kitco News
March silver futures prices hit a three-week low today. The silver bulls have lost their overall near-term technical advantage. A two-month-old uptrend on the daily bar chart has been negated. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $25.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the October low of $21.17. First resistance is seen at $23.50 and then at $24.00. Next support is seen at $23.00 and then at $22.75. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0. Read More
Image Source: Kitco News
Gold is poised for new all-time highs in 2024 - World Gold Council
Gold's push above $2,000 in the last few weeks of 2023 could herald an even bigger move in 2024, according to the latest report from the World Gold Council (WGC).
In its 2024 outlook, the WGC analysts said they see three potential scenarios that could impact gold prices next year. In a recent interview with Kitco News, Joseph Cavatoni, North American markets strategist at the WGC, said that much of what happens in gold will be driven by the Federal Reserve and its potential rate cuts.
"The gold market is just kind of holding its breath waiting to see what the Fed does," Cavatoni said.
In the first scenario, the U.S. economy pulls off a soft landing, avoiding a recession, but will still experience below-trend growth. The WGC noted that this scenario aligns with the current market consensus and will provide some traction for gold, with prices remaining in their current trend. Read More
Live From The Vault - Episode: 152
2024 pivotal for precious metals Feat. Craig Hemke
In this week’s episode of Live from the Vault, Andrew Maguire is joined by Craig Hemke the editor and publisher of the TFMetals report. The precious metals experts and educators reflect on their time in the industry before looking forward.
The old friends and whistleblowers agree that there’s a lack of confidence and education in the system, and speculate that gold would climb even higher if every investor chose to take delivery of just one ounce.
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Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
