Gold, silver rally on bargain buying
Gold and silver prices are sharply higher near midday Wednesday. Prices are seeing corrective bounces from Tuesday’s losses, as well as some perceived bargain hunting. April gold was last up $116.10 at $5,022.50. March silver prices were up $4.30 at $77.81.
Traders and investors will closely scrutinize the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes, due out this afternoon. At the January FOMC meeting Fed policymakers opted to hold U.S. interest rates steady. An appetite for cutting rates would be a tailwind for raw commodity markets, potentially creating more demand. Fed Governor Michael Barr said on Tuesday rates should remain steady “for some time” until officials see more evidence that inflation is heading toward the central bank’s 2% goal. Fed Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee, meanwhile, said on Tuesday there was potential for more cuts this year if inflation continued on its path toward that target.
The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index a higher, with crude oil prices solidly higher and trading around $64.25 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently around 4.1 percent.
Note: The gold market operates through two primary pricing mechanisms. The first is the spot market, which quotes prices for on-the-spot purchase and immediate delivery. The second is the futures market, which sets prices for delivery at a future date. Due to year-end positioning market liquidity, the December gold futures contract is currently the most actively traded on the CME.
Technically, April gold futures bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $5,250.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at last week’s low of $4,670.00. First resistance is seen at $5,100.00 and then at $5,200.00. First support is seen at $4,900.00 and then at this week’s low of $4,854.20. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 6.5.
March silver futures bulls see the next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $90.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the February low of $63.90. First resistance is seen at $80.00 and then at $82.50. Next support is seen at this week’s low of $71.815 and then at $70.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0.
