Precious Metals News Update - 30 April 2018

29 April 2018

COMMENTS / HIGHLIGHTS:

Asian markets were the first to receive the breaking news on Friday that (following on from news a week earlier that the DPRK would discontinue nuclear and ICBM testing), the 1953 armistice between North and South Korea had been formalised into a peace treaty, the result of a meeting between the DPRK’s Leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon-Jae. The occasion of the first ever visit to South Korea by a leader from North Korea also resulted in statements of intent aimed at reducing nuclear weapons to zero on the Korean peninsula and the re-uniting of families divided by the border.

The remainder of trade on Friday was largely routine, gold firming during the US session on some end of week booksquaring after a better-than-expected result for the advance 1st Quarter GDP data (+2.3% actual vs +1.8% expected). Rumours also swirled about on Friday that the Trump Administration has its sights set on a trade war with the European Union.

The reports on Thursday which had driven palladium out of last week’s lows (that Rusal principal Oleg Deripaska had announced his intention to maintain control of his company in defiance of US pressure) were directly refuted by Rusal on Friday via Facebook with “legal action” threatened regarding the falsehood. Controlling stakeholder EN+ announced that Mr Deripaska had agreed "in principle" to cut his stake in EN+ to below 50% and to resign from board. Palladium consequently surrendered all of its previous day’s gains.

This week sees a US Federal Reserve monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. Market consensus is for rates to remain unchanged and interestingly there will be no updated economic forecasts or presser. This will be followed on Friday by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ all-important April employment data.

TECHNICAL COMMENTS:

XAU/USD: End of week booksquaring resulted in Thursday and Friday making lows at the USD 1315 level. The broader textbook sideways trading range between USD 1306 - 1365 remains intact and there is no reason to suspect that the well delineated support and resistance levels won’t remain undisturbed for the present time.

XAU/AUD: The well delineated support and resistance levels continue to be respected for the present time.

XPD/USD: With “headline risk” continuing to drive the industrial metal the technical picture has been muddied and support at present levels (USD 970) may yet prove ephemeral. Topside resistance initially at USD 990 (55 Day moving average) and then 1020 (100 Day moving average) if palladium should find its legs again.

Good luck.

Regards,
Andre