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Silver’s Strong Underpinning Sees Investors Looking Upward to See How High It Can Climb
Silver has continued to track steadily higher to now be trading well above $25 an ounce to now be nearing $26 an ounce.
Prior to silver’s surge earlier in the month, the precious metal hadn’t broken through $26 since the summer of 2021, so its latest gains come from an already elevated base and illustrate the strength of investor support for silver.
Silver is benefiting from its appeal as a haven asset as well as a proven store of value over time in the wake of the war in Ukraine and fast-rising inflation globally. How much higher silver can climb, and whether it can surpass the highs achieved a few weeks ago will be determined by the approach by central banks to tackle rising inflation. Read More
Gold's bullish technical set-up heading into quarter-end
After drifting sideways in a tight $100 range for nearly a year, the month of March has seen gold volatility increase significantly with its price trading within a $185 range, driven mostly by the financial fallout from the crises in Ukraine. And once central bankers across the world ramped up the fight against rapidly surging inflation last week, gold has been attempting to create a new floor at the $1900 level.
With the first quarter of 2022 ending next Thursday, the price of gold moved towards its next level of resistance at $1950 after U.S. stocks fell sharply following Moscow's plans mid-week to seek payment in Roubles for gas sold to "unfriendly" countries.
More safe-haven buying came into gold above $1950 yesterday when President Biden met with other European leaders and NATO to discuss the situation in Ukraine. Biden, in an early evening news conference after the meetings, warned that a chemical attack by Russia "would trigger a response in kind." Read More
Gold prices down but holding near $1,950 as U.S. pending home sales fall 4.1% in February
The gold price remains under pressure but the market is holding the line around $1,950 an ounce as momentum in the U.S. housing sector continues to weaken with fewer consumers starting the process of buying a new home.
The U.S. pending home sales were down 4.1% in February following January’s 5.7% drop the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Friday. The data significantly missed expectations. The consensus forecast called for an advance of 1.0%.
The report said that the Pending Home Sales Index dropped to 104.9, and is down 5.4% compared to last year.
The gold market is seeing little reaction to the latest home sales data as it sees some technical selling pressure. April gold futures last traded at $1,949.5 an ounce, down 0.65% on the day. Read More
The Metals, Money, and Markets Weekly by Mickey Fulp - March 25, 2022
Western Nations ban gold transactions with Russia
Western economic sanctions continue to cripple Russia's economy and the nation is unable to use its massive gold reserves to shore up its crumbling currency.
Thursday, U.S. Treasury issued a notice, making it clear that gold transactions with Russia are prohibited, citing executive orders signed by President Joe Biden.
"U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in any transaction -- including gold-related transactions -- involving the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation or the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation," the Treasury said on its website.
According to some reports, there were signs that Russia was using its gold reserves to circumvent international sanctions.
"The Russian gold ban certainly comes as a response to Russia asking the 'unfriendly' countries to buy their oil and gas in rubles," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. "The news shouldn't have a negative impact on gold's value; if anything, we shall see the yellow metal extend gains toward the $2000 an ounce on escalating tensions and looming uncertainties." Read More
Wall Street analysts, retail investors still see $2k gold in the near-term
Wall Street analysts and retail investors haven't given up on $2,000 gold as the market sees broad-based solid bullish sentiment in the near term.
Analysts note that the precious metal continues to benefit from safe-haven demand as uncertainty and volatility remain elevated due to Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine. Analysts note that global market fear is helping gold prices withstand rising bond yields and hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
"The gold market is in a very strong uptrend. In the current environment, there is very little that could derail the rally to higher prices," said David Madden, market analyst at Equity Capital.
This week, 17 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News' gold survey. Among the participants, 12 analysts, or 71%, called for gold prices to rise next week. At the same time, four analysts, or 24%, were bearish on gold in the near term, and one analyst, or 6%, was neutral on prices. Read More
Gold holds its ground as bond yields hit 2.5%
The gold market is ending the week just above $1,950 an ounce, a slightly more than 1% gain from last Friday; however, investors need to look past the raw numbers and the environment that gold is trading in.
Gold prices have established a new range above $1,900 as the U.S. dollar index holds near a two-year high. Even more incredible, gold is holding firm in the face of rising bond yields. Early Friday, the yield on 10-year notes rose to 2.5%, its highest level in three years.
Some analysts suggest that bond yields have room to move higher as the Federal Reserve looks to tighten interest rates faster than expected. Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell shocked markets when he said that inflation is now too high. He signaled that the U.S. central bank could raise interest rates by 50 basis points in May. Markets also see the potential for a second 50-basis-point move in June.
However, the gold market is not taking these threats too seriously. To use an old cliché, some analysts have said that the Fed's bark is worse than its bite. Read More
Can gold price tackle $2,000 next week? Here's how that can happen
After another solid week of gains, gold could be ready to take on the $2,000 an ounce level next week. But there are a few technical elements that need to come together for that to happen.
Gold was able to advance more than 1.3% on the week despite a massive surge in U.S. Treasury yields, triggered by markets betting on a more aggressive Federal Reserve. This comes after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled a possibility of 50-basis-point hikes at upcoming meetings in May and June.
On Friday, the 10-year rate jumped, hitting 2.503% on Friday — the highest level since May 2019. And April Comex gold futures were last at $1,957.00.
"Higher yields are typically negative for non-interest bearing gold, but for now, the ongoing divergence between the two asset classes highlights the market's newfound sensitivity to inflation and the need to buy any/all real assets (including gold) as a hedge," said MKS PAMP head of Metals Strategy Nicky Shiels. Read More
Gold and silver move lower ahead of the European open
Gold and silver are both trading lower heading into the European session. The yellow metal is down 1.14% while silver has fallen 1.44%. In the rest of the commodities complex, copper (-0.95%) and spot WTI (-3.17%) are both in the red.
Risk sentiment was generally poor overnight as the Nikkei 225 (-0.73%) and Shanghai Composite (-0.13%) both fell but the ASX bucked the trend to move 0.08% higher. European futures are indicating a moderately lower cash open.
USD/JPY continued to push higher overnight with the pair rising 0.86%. The dollar was generally stronger across the board but AUD managed to hold up well. In the crypto space, Bitcoin traded well over the weekend and is at $46,920 heading into the European open. Read More
Russian Sanction Blowbacks Will Drive a Physical Gold Revaluation
In this week’s Live from the Vault, Andrew Maguire analyses the blowback effect of freezing Russian assets on the precious metals market and the connection to a significant gold uptake we’re currently witnessing.
As the physical gold demand is getting off the scale, the London whistleblower investigates the Central Bank’s race to repatriate gold reserves.
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.
