Precious Metals News Update - 27 April 2018

26 April 2018

COMMENTS / HIGHLIGHTS:

US 10 Yr Treasuries continued to lead gold by the nose, as yields at first rose above 3% before retreating on Thursday which triggered commensurate moves in the US Dollar and US equities.
Many investors were focused on Europe where the latest European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy announcement left rates unchanged and ECB President Draghi waxed lyrical about the strength of the European economy, stating that he expects “solid, broad-based growth” (in spite of credible evidence to the contrary).
The real “kick” for the markets came during early US trading where Initial weekly U.S. Jobless Claims posted a 49-year low (falling by 24K to a seasonally adjusted 209K vs 230K expected) - yet another bolster to US economic confidence under the present Administration. Both the Greenback and the US equities received extra starch from this news.
Elsewhere, Commerzbank’s daily commodities missive highlighted silver ETF holdings declining by 160 tons in the last two days.
Palladium was the only metal to hold its own from amongst the precious metals complex as Rusal principal Oleg Deripaska announced his intention to maintain control of his company in defiance of US pressure. With that gesture placing any hope of the easing of recent sanctions on the skids, aluminium and palladium picked up a “bid” tone again.

TECHNICAL COMMENTS:

XAU/USD: With XAU/USD moving beneath USD 1320 overnight, 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 continue to be respected for the present time.
XAU/AUD: XAU/AUD edged sufficiently into the “sell zone” (AUD 1750 - 1757) of its recent sideways trading range, drawing selling and keeping the topside of the range intact. As with XAU/USD, there is no reason to suspect that the well delineated support and resistance levels won’t continue to be respected for the present time.
XAG/USD: Since flattering to deceive during the latter part of last week, XAG/USD has settled back within the non-descript trading range it had been traversing since the end of February.
XPD/USD: “Headline risk” continues to drive the industrial metal and from a technical perspective (given the bounce out of recent lows over the past two days), a reversal of last Thursday to Tuesday’s corrective move which sees XPD/USD heading back towards the 100 Day moving average at USD 1021, cannot be ruled out.

Good luck and have a great weekend.

Regards,
Andre

Precious Metals News Update - 27 April 2018

26 April 2018

COMMENTS / HIGHLIGHTS:

US 10 Yr Treasuries continued to lead gold by the nose, as yields at first rose above 3% before retreating on Thursday which triggered commensurate moves in the US Dollar and US equities.
Many investors were focused on Europe where the latest European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy announcement left rates unchanged and ECB President Draghi waxed lyrical about the strength of the European economy, stating that he expects “solid, broad-based growth” (in spite of credible evidence to the contrary).
The real “kick” for the markets came during early US trading where Initial weekly U.S. Jobless Claims posted a 49-year low (falling by 24K to a seasonally adjusted 209K vs 230K expected) - yet another bolster to US economic confidence under the present Administration. Both the Greenback and the US equities received extra starch from this news.
Elsewhere, Commerzbank’s daily commodities missive highlighted silver ETF holdings declining by 160 tons in the last two days.
Palladium was the only metal to hold its own from amongst the precious metals complex as Rusal principal Oleg Deripaska announced his intention to maintain control of his company in defiance of US pressure. With that gesture placing any hope of the easing of recent sanctions on the skids, aluminium and palladium picked up a “bid” tone again.

TECHNICAL COMMENTS:

XAU/USD: With XAU/USD moving beneath USD 1320 overnight, 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 continue to be respected for the present time.
XAU/AUD: XAU/AUD edged sufficiently into the “sell zone” (AUD 1750 - 1757) of its recent sideways trading range, drawing selling and keeping the topside of the range intact. As with XAU/USD, there is no reason to suspect that the well delineated support and resistance levels won’t continue to be respected for the present time.
XAG/USD: Since flattering to deceive during the latter part of last week, XAG/USD has settled back within the non-descript trading range it had been traversing since the end of February.
XPD/USD: “Headline risk” continues to drive the industrial metal and from a technical perspective (given the bounce out of recent lows over the past two days), a reversal of last Thursday to Tuesday’s corrective move which sees XPD/USD heading back towards the 100 Day moving average at USD 1021, cannot be ruled out.

Good luck and have a great weekend.

Regards,
Andre