Today's Gold and Silver News: 26-01-2023

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Silver Price News: Silver Continues to Drift Awaiting Fresh Catalyst

Silver is showing no sign of shaking itself out of its narrow range it has been in so far in 2023 with the price continuing to trade either side of $24 an ounce. 

In fact, far from 2023 proving to be the year in which silver raced upwards to challenge first the high of 2022 and even potentially up towards $30 an ounce, the price is currently on a slight downtrend, reflecting a similar consolidation for silver’s precious metal peer, gold. 

While gold looks to be at the top end of its range, silver feels some way off it given the strength of industrial demand, with the metal a key component within the energy transition, and the fact the bearish factors that kept its price under pressure for so much of 2022 are starting to unwind. Read More

Gold Price News: Gold Holds Near 9-Month High as Price Reaches Peak

Gold is holding around $1,930 an ounce as the surge that started back in early November and has pushed the price up to levels last seen in April looks to have finally reached its peak.

Gold’s great run was sparked by a change in sentiment in how quickly the Federal Reserve will pause its interest rate hikes and further fuelled by the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and then further supported by a weakening of the US dollar. With these three factors now priced in, gold will need a fresh catalyst to push it higher than the elevated level it is already trading at.

It is worth remembering that gold has been able to make these substantial gains, totalling $300, even though the Fed implemented another rate hike in December and is likely to do so again when it meets at the end of this month. Read More

Gold prices seeing their best start to the year since 2012, flirting with a technical bull market

The gold market has reached a significant milestone as prices overnight climbed above $1,940 an ounce, pushing it briefly into an official bull market.

While gold is slightly down from its overnight highs, prices are up nearly 20% from their two-year lows seen in November. February gold futures last traded at $1,938.70 an ounce.

Along with its bull-market status, so far, the precious metal is up $100 in the first month of 2023, its best start to the year since 2012.

According to analysts, gold's renewed momentum comes as bond yields remain subdued and the U.S. dollar continues to trade at a seven-month low.

Analysts note that shifting interest rate expectations continue to weigh on the greenback. The U.S. dollar index continues to hover at its lowest point in seven months at 102 points. Markets have all but fully priced in a 25-basis point hike from the Federal Reserve next month.

"The yellow metal is finding fresh demand from traders and investors seeing an improved outlook as last year's headwinds, from rate hikes to rising yields and dollar, become tailwinds as rate hikes eventually pause while yields and the dollar softens amid concerns about the economic outlook," said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, in a note Tuesday.

Hansen added that he sees potential for higher prices as gold has historically seen significant rallies following a peak in interest rates. Read More

China steps up gold imports in 2022: Swiss gold imports at 4-year highs, Russia gold imports rise

China imported more gold from Switzerland last year and stepped up gold purchases from Russia, according to the latest import data releases.

Swiss exports of gold to China were at four-year highs in 2022, with China taking in 524 tonnes of gold worth around $33 billion. This is a massive increase from 354 tonnes reported in 2021 and the most since 2018, according to Swiss customs data.

China is the world’s number one gold consumer, followed by India, with a focus on retail investment and jewelry demand.

In a separate dataset published by Russia’s customs agency over the weekend, China also increased its purchases of Russian gold. China bought 6.6 tons of gold from Russia in 2022, which is an increase of 67% from 2021, local Russian media reported. Read More

Gold, silver bulls claw back early losses, buy the dips

Gold and silver prices are firmer in midday U.S. trading Wednesday, as the market bulls stepped in to buy the weaker levels seen in early trading. A weaker U.S. dollar index and higher crude oil prices on this day are also positive outside market influences on the precious metals. February gold was last up $3.70 at $1,939.20 and March silver was up $0.121 at $23.87.

Global stock markets were mixed overnight, with European shares mostly down and Asian shares mostly up. China markets are quiet as the Lunar New Year holiday is being celebrated. U.S. stock indexes are lower at midday. 

The World Bank and Swiss Federal Office for Customs and Border Security reported Swiss exports of gold to China surged in 2022, at 478 metric tons. That’s up from 274 tons in 2021.

Technically, the gold futures bulls have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a 2.5-month-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close in February futures above solid resistance at $2,000.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,885.00. First resistance is seen at this week’s high of $1,943.80 and then at $1,950.00. First support is seen at today’s low of $1,920.60 and then at this week’s low of $1,912.50. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 8.0.

Image Source: Kitco News

The silver bulls have the slight overall near-term technical advantage. However, trading has been sideways and choppy and a price uptrend on the daily chart has been negated. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing March futures prices above solid technical resistance at the January high of $24.775. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $22.00. First resistance is seen at $24.00 and then at this week’s high of $24.295. Next support is seen at $23.26 and then at $23.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.5. Read More

Image Source: Kitco News

Iran's government sells gold coin certificates to raise cash and battle inflation

The Iranian government is taking extreme measures by selling coin certificates on its stock exchange to deal with its growing currency and inflation crisis.

The Iranian rial has been freefalling, trading at record lows against the U.S. dollar. Last week, the U.S. dollar rose above the 450,000-rial mark.

The economy is facing significant headwinds as the country has become increasingly isolated internationally. Western nations are looking to sanction the government for the way it has tried to stamp out national protests after a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died in police custody on Sept. 16.

The European Union has been leading the call for further sanctions against Iran, which has caused the rial to fall roughly 29% in the last four months. The currency is down nearly 50% since mid-2021.

The depreciating currency has also added to the country’s inflation threat. Tuesday, the Statistical Center of Iran said that inflation rose above 51% in January, with food prices rising more than 70%.

Because of the growing economic crisis, the Iranian government has taken extreme measures, which include selling certificates on the stock market Tuesday, according to news reports from Iran International. Read More

China's biggest brokerage sees gold price at record highs this year

Citic Securities - China's biggest publicly traded brokerage - is looking at gold hitting record highs this year, citing central banks' gold buying as one of the most reliable bullish signals.

One of the central banks that surprised the gold market at the end of last year was China. The People's Bank of China purchased 32 tons of gold in November — its first officially recorded purchase since September 2019. That was followed up with another purchase of 30 tons of gold in December. China's gold reserves now total 2,010 tons.

And China is not the only one buying. Central banks began looking at gold in the second half of last year and bought nearly 400 tons in the third quarter of 2022. This marked a 300% jump from the same period a year ago, according to the World Gold Council (WGC) report.

Based on the latest data, central banks purchased 673 tons of gold in the first three quarters of last year, outpacing total annual purchases since 1967 — when the U.S. dollar was still backed by gold.

"Purchases by global central banks are one of the most reliable indicators signalling gains in bullion prices," said Ao Chong, an analyst at Citic Securities in Beijing. "Gold prices are expected to retain momentum and will be underpinned by easing expectations about the Fed's interest-rate increases, the continuation of geopolitical conflicts and economic recession."

Citic forecasts gold to reach record-high levels this year as prices rise above $2,000 an ounce. No specific price target was given in the report released late last week. Read More

Economists, experts, and market participants await Friday’s Core PCE report

The financial markets are currently in the process of factoring in or getting in front of the upcoming release of the core PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) report. On Friday the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) will release the most current information on inflation for December. Current estimates are anticipating a continued decline in core inflation from 4.7% in November to 4.4% (year-over-year) last month.

This is welcome news to Americans, but more importantly, is the last critical economic report that the Federal Reserve will have available as it convenes to decide the pace and size of upcoming interest rate hikes. Although Federal Reserve members have expressed mixed messages regarding their opinion on the pace of upcoming rate hikes as well as their upside target to take their benchmark “fed funds” rate to. It is currently widely accepted that the Fed will raise rates by ¼%, the first small rate hike since their first rate hike in March of last year. Read More

Gold price hits record highs in Japan, eyes on other currencies

Gold priced in Japanese yen traded at record-high levels in Japan Wednesday, according to local prices and media reports.

The precious metal reached a new record high of 8,977 yen (USD $69.28) per gram, which was higher than the previous record of 8,969 yen (USD $69.22) per gram seen in April 2022, Jiji Press reported citing prices at a major precious metals seller Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K.

Market analysts see recession fears and concerns around inflation as the key triggers driving demand.

Spot gold priced in yen per ounce is currently trading very close to record high levels seen in April 2022. In April of last year, spot gold priced in Japanese yen was at a record high of above 254,220 yen (USD $1,962) an ounce. On Wednesday, the highest level reached in spot prices was 252,600 yen (USD $1,950) an ounce.

In the meantime, the Japanese yen has been attracting some investor flows versus the U.S. dollar on recession fears and markets looking for the Federal Reserve to pause its historic monetary policy tightening cycle. The USD/JPY pair was last trading below the ¥130 level.

As gold rallies in most currencies, analysts also start to forecast record highs in the U.S. dollar. Read More

Gold to be hardest hit commodity in 'massive crash', bear market in early stages - Harry Dent

Gold, which has been trading up for 2023 and is currently at around $1,930 per ounce, will reverse the trend and have a dramatic decline as "the biggest crash in our lifetime" enters its second wave, according to Harry Dent, Founder of HS Dent.

Dent is calling for gold to reach as low as $900 per ounce by mid-2024.

"Gold is not a safe haven," he maintained. "I'm predicting that gold goes down to $900 to $1,000. That will be a lot less than other commodities… that is still a 40 to 45 percent fall from here." Read More

Still early in bear market, massive crash triggered when NASDAQ hits this level - Harry Dent

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.