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Silver Price News: Silver Takes Breather After Six-Week Highs
Silver prices were largely range bound on Tuesday in more subdued trading following the previous week’s surge to a six-week-high.
Prices moved in a range of $22.94 to $23.21 an ounce on Tuesday, little changed from Monday’s range. The relative stability for silver followed hefty gains in the previous week which saw prices jump as high as $23.50 for the first time since early January.
Silver appeared to shrug off any impact from gold, which continued to push higher on Tuesday on the back of US dollar weakness and falling US Treasury yields.
Looking ahead, the markets will be watching out for UK CBI industrial trends orders for February due for release on Wednesday, which are likely to give a signal for industrial demand for silver in one of the metal’s key consuming nations. Read More
Gold Price News: Gold Prices Gain As US Dollar Dips
Gold prices made further gains on Monday and Tuesday to rise above $2,030 an ounce for the first time since February 9.
The US dollar fell against other major currencies on Tuesday, adding further to a downward move that’s continued since February 14. A weaker dollar tends to drive dollar-denominated assets like gold and silver higher, as it makes the precious metals cheaper for buyers in other currencies. US Treasury yields also fell on Tuesday, adding to the bullish picture for gold prices.
The latest moves came against a background of heightened geopolitical risk, after news reports on Sunday said Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen had attacked another ship in the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis have said their attacks are a response to the Israeli state’s military actions in Gaza.
The ongoing hostilities against ships are a concern for the markets as they threaten deliveries in a key commercial waterway, and the uncertainty they pose tends to drive investment away from riskier assets toward safe havens like gold. Read More
Recession driving physical gold demand in UK - British Royal Mint
A technical recession in the United Kingdom is helping to drive physical bullion demand as consumers look to protect their wealth, according to the latest comments from the British Royal Mint.
Robust demand for bullion came after the Office for National Statistics said last week that UK fourth-quarter GDP contracted by 0.3%, following a 0.1% decline in the third quarter. A technical recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contracting economic activity.
“The news of the UK economy falling into recession has clearly caused some investors to reassess their investment strategies and seek out a golden safe-haven for their wealth,” said Stuart O’Reilly, Market Insights Analyst at the Royal Mint, in a note Monday.“We have seen a surge in gold demand as investors mulled the impact of a recession on interest rates and inflation.”
The mint noted that following last week’s recession headlines, it saw a 22% increase in daily sales as of Thursday. Read More
Gold prices are well supported, but lower highs and lower lows indicate a potential pullback – ForexLive’s Low
With gold’s rebound extending to its fourth consecutive session on Tuesday, prices are proving to be well supported above $2,000 per ounce, but a significant correction could be in the cards before the precious metal makes new highs, according to Justin Low, currency analyst at ForexLive.
“With the dollar sagging slightly today, gold is finding reason to cheer on the rebound from last week,” Low said. “The precious metal is up another 0.4% today to $2,026 as it has now erased its post-CPI drop.”
The current rebound came after buyers successfully defended the 100-day moving average last week, driving gold back above $2,000 per ounce. “And the run higher has since gathered pace, with gold now just down 0.6% on the month,” he added. Read More
Gold prices show cautious market optimism ahead of FOMC minutes, analysts see breakout potential
Wednesday’s 2 pm EST release of the minutes from the January FOMC meeting is the only significant economic news event on the docket this week, and it has captured the attention of precious metals markets, with traders and analysts weighing in on gold’s potential responses to the revelations they may contain.
“Gold prices rose in Asian trade on Wednesday, extending a recent rebound as the dollar retreated in anticipation of more cues on U.S. interest rates, most notably from the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s late-January meeting,” wrote Ambar Warrick for Investing.com. “Still, the yellow metal remained largely within a $2,000 to $2,050 an ounce trading range established over the past month, as the outlook for gold was clouded by the prospect of higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates.”
Warrick noted that the focus of investors was now squarely on the minutes from the FOMC meeting, where the U.S. central bank maintained rates unchanged while also attempting to rein in market expectations of imminent cuts. Read More
Swiss gold exports hit six-year highs on demand from China and India
The global shift in the gold market continued unabated in January, as trade data from Switzerland showed robust flows of the precious metal to Eastern nations.
In its latest trade report, Switzerland said that 207 tonnes of gold were exported from Europe’s largest refining hub to China, India and Hong Kong. According to reports, gold exports out of Switzerland reached an eight-year-high.
“Shipments to India rose 73% to 14 tons, to China it more than doubled to 77.8 tons, to Hong Kong it rose almost 7x to 44.6 tons,” said commodity analysts at MKS PAMP Group in a note Tuesday.
Commodity analysts note that Chinese imports were fueled by unprecedented jewelry demand ahead of “Year of the Dragon” Lunar New Year celebrations. At the same time, analysts have also said that more and more Chinese consumers and investors are turning to gold to protect their wealth, hedging against slowing economic weakness and financial market turmoil. Read More
Gold prices remain down, see little reaction to FOMC minutes as central banks highlights risks of easing too early
Gold prices remain under pressure but continue to consolidate above $2,000 an ounce as the Federal Reserve has signaled that its monetary policy has peaked, but it remains in no hurry to ease interest rates, according to the minutes of the January monetary policy meeting.
The Federal Reserve’s committee members noted that risks are becoming more balanced as inflation pressures ease and activity remains robust. According to the minutes, the committee wants to see more confirmation that inflation continues to fall to the 2% target before they start cutting interest rates.
“Most participants noted the risks of moving too quickly to ease the stance of policy and emphasized the importance of carefully assessing incoming data in judging whether inflation is moving down sustainably to 2 percent,” the minutes said. “A couple of participants, however, pointed to downside risks to the economy associated with maintaining an overly restrictive stance for too long.” Read More
Gold, silver weaker; FOMC minutes, not surprisingly, lean a bit hawkish
Gold and silver prices are weaker in afternoon trading Wednesday, but trading not far from levels seen just before the just-released report on U.S. monetary from the Federal Reserve. April gold was last down $4.50 at $2,035.30. March silver was last down $0.246 at $22.885.
This afternoon’s release of the minutes from the last FOMC meeting of the Federal Reserve showed members remained significantly concerned about rising inflation, despite the Fed’s monetary policy tightening likely having peaked. The minutes showed FOMC members want to see more progress on reaching the Fed’s 2% annual inflation level before lowering interest rates. The marketplace is likely deeming the minutes slightly hawkish, but not unexpected. Recent warmer U.S. inflation reports already had the marketplace thinking the Fed will hold off on lower interest rates until the second half of the year, if even then.
Technically, April gold futures bears still have the slight overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a 2.5-month-old downtrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at the February high of $2,083.20. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at the November low of $1,975.10. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $2,043.50 and then at $2,050.00. First support is seen at this week’s low of $2,023.90 and then at last Friday’s low of $2,006.60. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 4.5.
Image Source: Kitco News
March silver futures bears still have the slight overall near-term technical advantage. However, a nine-week-old downtrend on the daily bar chart has been negated to suggest a market bottom is in place. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $24.50. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the February low of $21.975. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $23.22 and then at last week’s high of $23.56. Next support is seen at $22.50 and then at $22.25. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 4.5. Read More
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Fed is making a policy mistake that will eventually be positive for gold - WisdomTree’s Nitesh Shah
The gold market is struggling as expectations for the start of the Federal Reserve’s easing cycle continue to be pushed back; however, according to one market strategist, the longer the central bank waits, the greater the risk of a policy mistake, which could ultimately be positive for the precious metal.
In an interview with Kitco News, Nitesh Shah, head of commodity and macroeconomic research at WisdomTree, said that although gold prices have struggled since the start of the year, he remains impressed by the relative strength of the market.
He added that he expects investor interest to return to the market as central banks, led by the Federal Reserve, signal eventual rate cuts this year.
“This year, bonds are going to get more expensive as interest rates go down and that is when interest in gold should return,” he said. Read More
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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.
