Gold suffered its worst weekly loss since the November Presidential election. June gold futures lost almost $42.00 to close at 1226.9, while July Silver lost 99 cents to close at $16.27 an ounce. With non- commercial funds long just over 200 K contracts in gold and over 109 K contracts in Silver, the liquidation theme this week was unrelenting. Two events the trade was watching came in favor for the bears as the FOMC dismissed recent economic weakness while indirectly signaling that a June rate hike was most likely on the table. Second, this mornings non- farm payroll report came in just above trade expectations with job gains at 211,000. While gold didn’t break on the jobs number, equities failed to rally much while the Dollar drifted lower. In fact it was a weak Dollar performance this week as the greenback searches for a near term bottom against the Euro and British Pound. All eyes turn to the French Presidential election this weekend for any surprises as populist candidate Le Pen is down in the polls by 18 to 20 points. Should she pull off the unlikely upset, look for a Brexit like rally in the metals. Investors looking for key economic data next week will have to wait for Thursday as weekly jobless claims will be announced. Friday will have April retail numbers and CPI. So far for May, gold has followed its downward monthly trend. In the last five years, Gold has had a negative month of May performance.
My technical swing numbers come in as follows for June Gold and July Silver. For Gold, support comes in at 1210.8 and with a close below 1194.9. Resistance is up to 1257.8 and then 1288.3. For July Silver, support comes in at 15.89 and then down at 15.51. Resistance is up at 16.97 and then up at 17.67.