Gold, silver weaker as risk aversion downticks a bit

President Trump indicated he might hold off on attacking Iran for now after saying he was reassured by sources “on the other side” that the government in Tehran would stop killing people involved in widespread protests, according to a Bloomberg report. “We’ve been told that the killing in Iran is stopping — it’s stopped,” Trump told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office. He said he’d been “informed by very important sources on the other side” about the decision not to proceed with the killings, and that he would be “very upset” if the crackdown continued. Asked if military action was off the table, Trump said he would “watch it” and “see what the process is.” “But we were given a very good, very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on,” Trump said. “The comments marked a shift in tone a day after he urged Iranians to continue protests against the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and vowed to ‘act accordingly’ after being briefed on the killings of protesters. He posted on social media that ‘help is on the way,’” said Bloomberg.

Also, Trump insisted he does not plan to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell despite a Justice Department probe into the central bank’s renovation. “I don’t have any plan to do that,” Trump said Wednesday in an interview with Reuters and as reported by Bloomberg. Still, the president said he had not arrived at a conclusion about whether the probe would give him grounds to oust the Fed chair, saying it’s “too early” to say. “Right now, we’re (in) a little bit of a holding pattern with him, and we’re going to determine what to do. But I can’t get into it,” he said.

Trump is holding off on new tariffs targeting imports of critical minerals, following a months-long review to determine whether foreign shipments threatened US national security. Trump will instead seek to negotiate agreements with foreign nations to “ensure the United States has adequate critical mineral supplies and to mitigate the supply chain vulnerabilities as quickly as possible.” The president said “it may be appropriate to impose import restrictions, such as tariffs, if satisfactory agreements are not reached in a timely manner,” said a Bloomberg report.

The key outside markets today see the U.S. dollar index up. Crude oil prices are sharply down and trading around $59.00 a barrel. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note is presently around 4.14%.

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, February gold futures bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $4,750.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $4,400.00. First resistance is seen at Wednesday’s record high of $4,650.50 and then at $4,675.00. First support is seen at today’s low of $4,584.00 and then at $4,550.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 8.0.

March silver futures bulls have the strong chart advantage and their next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $100.00. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $80.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight record high of $93.70 and then at $94.00. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $86.125 and then at $85.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 9.5 .