Despite a bounce that took Gold positive for the day session Friday, December gold futures lost $8.70 for the week. Silver had a similar bounce as well today bouncing .15 cents from the daily lows to close the session at 1685.5. For the week, December silver lost .32 cents. Gold and silver had been under major pressure since Wednesday as rising equities highlighted by a major rally in the tech heavy Nasdaq which started late in the day Thursday due to sizable M&A activity. The U.S. dollar also scored multi month highs on Thursday and Friday as the European Central Bank announcement out Thursday morning was seen as bearish for the euro after ECB President Draghi announced continual monetary accommodation though September 2018. Merger and acquisition activity along with strong earnings results has again sent stocks soaring in m, which has kept the risk on vibe intact as stocks indexes continue to post all time highs week on week. The rise in stocks and the dollar has more than anything halted any rally in precious metals over the last few weeks. Gold did receive some bullish news midday as the Catalonian parliament’s independence declaration from Spain led investors to seek safety from political upheaval. Catalonia’s declaration was in defiance of the Madrid government, which was preparing to impose direct rule over the region. Stay tuned.
Early next week, U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to reveal his nomination to lead the Fed for the next four years. After months of speculation, the two front-runners are former Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell and Stanford economist John Taylor. All markets will be waiting for Trump to release his nomination for the Federal Reserve but there is also a full slate of economic data to digest next week. Interestingly, while there is major attention on who will be the next Fed Chair, not much interest in my view is being paid to the actual meeting next week. There is no press conference nor updated economic projections so markets will only receive the central bank’s monetary policy statement. Markets will receive important manufacturing and service-sector data along with consumer confidence numbers, and the week ends with the release of the October employment report. Technical’s for next week come in as follows. For December gold support is down first at 1261.9. A close under and 1252.5 is next. Resistance is up at 1283.4. A close over and 1295.1. December silver has support at 16.51. A close under and 16.27 is next. Resistance is up at 17.08. A close over and 17.41 is next.
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